Saviors of the Future
by saentiel
Summary: We all wish we could turn back time and change how things played out. We may not be able to return to the past, but we are in control of the future. It's up to us to choose our sides in the battle known as life; it's up to us to save or destory the future our past has shaped. Whether you are a god, player, or mob, you can be a savior of the future.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

We all make decisions. It's a part of life we can't escape or skip; you have to face each day and decide what is wrong and what is right. In the perfect world, that would be easy. There would never be regret. There would never be the doubt that consumes you after you've made your judgment.

But there isn't a perfect world. Earth isn't. Minecraftia isn't. Whatever worlds lay hidden among the spiraling galaxies and blankets of stars aren't the utopia we wish for deep down inside.

And so we hurt. Our insides twist and turn and our hearts stop when things turn out in a way we never intended because we know it's all our fault. That we should have seen an unpredictable future before it arrived.

The darkness grows.

In the perfect world, every action we made would belong to us and us alone. Then the regret would be justified, and the doubt we feel wouldn't be directed towards another.

But the reality is that our actions are heavily influenced by others. Questions make us hesitate before every decision because we know we could never blame the others. We only blame ourselves for the choices others push up on us.

The darkness bursts free when we realize how helpless we are to control our own fates. When we realize that everything we do is because we don't want to be left alone or hurt. Because we don't want to lose the ones we hold close. We wear our masks and play our games because we know that's all we can do if we want to survive.

But then, one day, we understand.

We understand that it's our lives and not theirs. That we decide what paths to follow. We shape our own destinies with our shaking, hesitant hands, and no matter what destinies they are, we will get through them. Every single living creature has that ability.

All that we have to do is find it.

Why should you believe the words of a complete stranger, one that you've never heard utter a single word before today? Because I've been through this all. I know the power we all have deep inside because I've discovered it. I've seen the truth of every single world in existence.

We all wish we could turn back time and change how things played out. We may not be able to return to the past, but we are in control of the future. It's up to us to choose our sides in the battle known as life; it's up to us to save or destroy the future our past has shaped. Whether you be a god, player, or mob, you can be a savior of the future.

 **Author's Note: Hello, reader of this fanfiction. I put this story to rest back in December of last year. I did so because of a dwindling amount of readers, but also because I was working on the draft of a novel. Roughly nine months later, I can gladly say that I finished my first draft.**

 **And that's the reason I'm here right now. I needed something to write, and I realized just how close I was to finishing a story that meant so much to me. I'll always consider this to be one of my finest fanfictions. It deserves to be finished the proper way. So here we are, with a chapter of a fanfiction that I never really thought I would write more of.**

 **If you're here now, thanks for checking out this work. It might be able to stand on it's own. I'm not sure. I'd suggest checking out its predecessor, _A Hero's Destiny._ I've improved a _lot_ since I published the first chapter of that story, but I'd like to think that the tale I try to tell makes up for the less desirable parts. And if you've read through that or just don't feel like reading it, I hope you enjoy this fanfiction. It has its flaws, but it's a story that needs to be told.**

 **So I'd like to present to you a story about the love between friends and family, and a story about all of the wonderful things that can blossom from loss.**

 **September 17th, 2017**

 **-Sae-**


	2. Chapter 1: The Man of Blue

**A/N And here is the first chapter of the story! I'm pretty excited for this sequel – I have so many ideas for it – and this character is particular is a fun one.**

 **Disclaimer-I don't own Minecraft. Minecraft is property of Microsoft. I do, however, own all of the characters in this chapter.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **The Man of Blue**

On the outskirts of a plains village was a small wooden hut. It was in this hut that a man lay, trying to ignore the sunlight streaming in through his window.

That task proved to be impossible, and the man resigned himself to the fate of having to get out of his bed. The floor creaked under his bare feet as he made his way over to the chest in the corner of the room.

From there he took a piece of bread, and after lathering it with butter took a sleepy bite out of it. The man yawned. He sat down at the small table in the hut, and watched the villager children playing catch outside his window. The ones playing weren't the youngest in the village, yet they weren't old enough to be apprentices.

The man watched them for several minutes. He finally got to his feet once more and began to change into his day clothes. Though he appeared to only be in his early twenties, the man had several scars underneath his outfit.

He stood before his mirror and examined his appearance with a scrutinizing gaze. His short blue hair was as messy as usual, much to his annoyance. No matter how hard he tried to brush, and no matter the different techniques he used, it would forever remain that way. His long white coat was clean – for once – and his beloved scarf was neatly wrapped around his neck. He grabbed the iron sword and its sheath from next to his bed, attaching the sheath to his belt.

"Alright!" The man exclaimed. He clapped his hands together. "I'm all ready for a new day!" With his daily pep talk out of the way, he exited his hut.

He had barely stepped out of the doorway when a ball hit him in the face. Surprised, the man tripped over his own two feet and fell down the hut's stairs with a startled yelp.

He looked up to see that the children had gathered around him. "'Morning," he greeted them. They all looked incredibly guilty at the sight of him laying on the ground in a mess of tangled limbs.

One of them, a young girl, apologized profusely for hitting him with the ball. "I'm really sorry, Mister Shion! I really am! I didn't mean to hurt you!" She looked to be on the verge of tears.

"It's fine, Rudo," the man replied with what one might call an idiotic grin. He quickly got to his feet and returned the ball to the children. "Don't cry. Accidents happen all the time."

She gave a silent nod.

"Now go play, you guys, or the whole day will be wasted. You're only a kid once!" With that word of wisdom, the man rushed off to the center of the village.

* * *

"Good morning! Hello!" The man greeted the villagers he passed. They all replied with a simple, "Hello", each starting their day with a smile on their face because their god had spoken to them.

"Hey, kid." The man grinned at the sound of the voice. He didn't need to turn to know that the speaker was an old villager woman, wrinkled by age.

He turned anyways, and was welcomed by the sight of a stall filled with strange yet wonderful trinkets. The woman claimed that they were magic. The man wasn't sure about that, but he was guilty of buying several of them because they looked incredibly cool.

"Hi Grandma!"

That exclamation prompted a whack on the head from the woman's cane.

The man winced, rubbing the sore spot. "That hurt."

"Of course it did, you idiot. It was supposed to. I've repeatedly told you not to call me Grandma."

"But you let all of the kids do it!" He was once again hit by her cane.

"I feel even older if a grown man calls me Grandma, alright?"

The man sighed. "But I'm a child at heart," he protested, putting his elbows on the table and staring at her with the most pitiful eyes he could muster.

"You're also this village's god, Kaito, so start acting like it."

He pouted. "Fine." He suddenly started to wave at one of the players trading with another villager. "Hey you!" Kaito shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth as he did so. "Blond girl!"

"Why do you always try talking to them?" The old woman questioned after the player moved away. "They never respond…Anyways, players aren't exactly kind, kid."

"I know," Kaito replied, "but I just cling to hope that one will hear my voice one of these days." He gave a hollow laugh. "Stupid, isn't it?"

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, and started to hum a song under his breath. The old woman watched him for about a minute before shoving a necklace into his face. He started at it.

"I can't have someone so gloomy next to my stall," she simply explained.

Kaito's eyes lit up. "This is the necklace I've been saving up for! Let me get out my emeralds-"

She shook her head. "It's on the house, kid."  
He grinned, and to her surprise, hugged her. "Thank you so much!" After he finally pulled away, Kaito put on the necklace. It was a blue crystal on a necklace of twine. It sparkled in the light of the early morning sun. "I have to go now, Grandma! See you later!"

"Don't call me Grandma, you idiot!" Kaito, however was out of earshot and didn't hear her. The woman sighed. She began to rearrange her stall to make it more likely to get a customer. "He's such a strange man…"

"Excuse me, coming through, sorry about that." Someone apologized as they made their way through the crowd. He – the old woman could tell from his voice – was wearing a black cloak that concealed his features. He was certainly the shady type, but she didn't complain when he stopped by her stall.

He whistled when he saw what she was selling. "That's a lot of neat stuff," he began as he examined everything. "How much does this bracelet cost?" The bracelet in question was one with a fire-like bead on a black chain.

"10 emeralds."

He withdrew a bag filled with emeralds and handed them over to her. "That should more than enough, right?"

The old woman was shocked to see how much was in the bag. There was at least twenty emeralds in the bag. The cloaked mob's voice turned more serious. "I saw you talking to that man. That player. Who is he?"

"I'm not an information broker-"  
"I'll pay you a diamond. Multiple ones. I see that you have a lot of trinkets here. I can give you trinkets from places you've only dreamed of going to. Won't you just tell me his name and who he is?"

Another villager walked over. "Come, Rizan. He's offering you a lot. Just take his deal." The old woman stayed silent. Her brother, because that was who the other elderly villager was, said, "I'll tell you. Give Rizan the stuff, though."

The strange customer nodded. "It's a deal."

"His name is Kaito Shion. He's our god. He appeared here about two years ago. Fell from the sky in a bubble made of water." The villager's voice dropped. "But if you're planning on harming him in any way, this village will hunt you down."

The stranger withdrew an enderpearl from his cloak, and an endstone. He placed both on the table. "You can use the endstone to make whatever suits your needs. Thank you for your help."

And on that note, the cloaked mob began to follow in Kaito's footsteps.


	3. Chapter 2: Stalker

**A/N I freaking love this story! There's a new character introduced this chapter, something that I'm very happy about. Maybe they're mentioned in the prologue. I don't know. *grins evilly* Also, said prologue has been updated after certain events have transpired. (Aka, I changed the storyline a bit.)**

 **Happy Valentine's Day, all of you wonderful Souls! Even though Valentine's Day is typically thought of as a day to celebrate your love with a special someone (and an excuse to get chocolate), don't forget to tell your friends and family how much you care about them!  
**

 **Disclaimer-I don't own Minecraft. Microsoft does.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy! :D**

 **Chapter 2:**

 **Stalker**

Kaito's PoV:

Kaito knew that he was being followed, and, quite honestly, his follower was terrible at trying to be inconspicuous. By the time Kaito had reached the edge of town he had become aware of the cloaked mob – they were either a zombie, villager, enderman, or skeleton because they were standing on two legs – and had checked by circling around the outskirts of the village. His follower had continued following him.

Kaito glanced over his shoulder at the mob. It was at that moment a terrifying thought hit him. He had been told hundreds of times by the villagers and traveling villagers that he was good-looking, and girls (and some boys) in the teenager to early adult range had called him things like sexy and hot. He didn't really see any of that. He was just a person. Physical appearance didn't matter to Kaito.

But the point was that maybe his follower thought the same thing. Maybe his follower was actually a stalker, one intent on doing all sorts of terrifying things to him.

Kaito shuddered at the thought.

Cloaked Mob's PoV:

He had been following Kaito Shion for about an hour now, and he _still_ had no idea how to talk to the guy. He groaned. It really shouldn't be this hard to talk to him. Everyone said that he always talked, so why was he having such a hard time accusing Kaito of not actually being a god?  
To add to it, Kaito kept glancing over his shoulder. Another groan. _Think you idiot, think!_ He was tempted to bang his head against a tree. Maybe then he would get ideas on how to confront Kaito?  
 _You know what? As Aleks would so wisely say, "******* ***** it."  
_ The cloaked mob rushed to Kaito's side. The minute he did so, Kaito instinctively reached for his sword. "I'm not going to hurt you," he promised. The hand lingered for a second. Then it was returned to his side.

A pair of blue eyes watched him – it was like he was getting stared at by a caged animal. "Then why are you keeping your face and body hidden? And why follow me in the first place?"

He instinctively took his cloak off and threw it to the side. The blue-haired man stared at him with disbelief in his eyes. "You're a player?!" Kaito suddenly exclaimed.

He quickly checked his braid before letting his waist-length black hair go. Today he had decided to wear a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt with a gold ingot on it, sneakers, and a yellow hoodie. The usual outfit.

Suddenly, he heard two very familiar voices.

 _Horse manure!_ he thought. After glancing at Kaito, he grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and dragged the startled "god" into the bushes. Kaito gave a startled yelp, but he slapped his hand onto the man's mouth.

He peeked over the bushes to watch the two gods. Hero was anxiously asking how his sister was feeling, staring intently at her stomach as he spoke.

A grin appeared on his face. Hero had gotten so protective lately – not that he wasn't loyal to his friends and family. But with both Oracle and Claire expecting, he was on high alert.

The two gods soon passed. He gave a sigh in relief, fingering the bracelet he had bought from the stall.

Someone gave a not-so-indiscreet cough. He turned to see Kaito staring expectantly at him, hands on his hips. "You're a player," he pointed out. There was a certain look to his blue eyes as he waited for an explanation. Hidden behind blatant confusion was desperation.

"I'm not," he replied. "I just look like one. I'm a god. We can change our forms."

Kaito stiffened.

He held out his hand. "I'm Télos. I'm the god of gold, and the ruler of the End because democracy takes way too long to be put into place. The woman that just walked by us is my wife Oracle. Her brother was the man, and my best friend. His name is Hero."

Kaito gaped at him. He then turned to the path. "Like Herobrine?" he questioned quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. Télos nodded. _Suspicions confirmed._ "I know the truth," he suddenly blurted. As Lex would say, Kaito stared at him like a deer in headlights. (He was still trying to learn about the mobile autos, or whatever they were called. Lex had spent nearly an hour explaining both headlights and deers to Télos, much to Aleks' annoyance.)

"And what's that truth?" Kaito slowly said.

"That you only say you're a god because the villagers said it first." _Smooth going, idiot._

Kaito stared down at his feet. "Is it that obvious?"

"To a god, yeah. We come into the world like players do on Earth, you know. We don't appear in bubbles of water-" Télos' golden eyes widened. "You can use water."

"I can," Kaito confirmed. Télos suddenly grabbed Kaito's wrist and dragged him back out of the bushes. "Hey, what are you doing?! You can't just go abducting people!"

The god of gold turned to face Kaito. "You're obviously a player. Players are brought to Minecraftia because they're someone's chosen. Chosen use the power of their gods – for example, mine use gold."

"So let me get this straight. I'm a god's chosen?"

"Pretty much."

"Then who is my god?" Kaito asked.

"That's the reason I'm going to take you to Hero's base. The only three gods are Hero, Oracle, and I. Hero is light and the stars. Oracle is flames. I'm gold. See the problem?"

Kaito stared at him. "There's no god that has water powers."

"Exactly! There's another god out there, Kaito!" 

?'s PoV:

He placed a white-gloved hand on the window. He watched the squids playing in the ocean surrounding the underwater palace. If he stared hard enough at the window, he could see himself. He traced the outline of his mask with his finger before returning to his bed.

He plopped down onto it. He turned to the pile of stuffed animals and dolls next to him, all in various states of decay. He pulled his favorite – a doll with eyes the most beautiful blue eyes and hair the same color – out of the pile and held it close to his chest.

"I have a chosen," he reminded himself quietly; that was the thought that got him to his feet. He was going to come soon. His chosen was coming. Tomorrow had to be the day that he would arrive. The palace needed to be cleaned, and he had to figure out what to cook.

He glanced down at the doll. The smile it gave him was one similar to the design on his mask – artificial. It should have been reassuring. But the light of the sea lanterns made its face horribly disfigured. Chips of china missing from its face. Tears in its outfit. Its hair a knotted mess.

"My chosen is never coming," he realized. Bitter, warm tears began to spill over. He wanted to believe. He really did. But it had been too long since the dream. Anyways, his chosen was probably like the doll. In his lonely heart, both seemed perfect. But once brought out into the light to be examined, they were revealed to be far from that.

 **Time for some dares. All of these questions and dares are from The scribe of the 4th brother…**

 **D: Soul, I dare you to sing Zalio and Stesa, sitting in a tree, while dancing around both of them.**

 **Soul: *salutes* Will do! *sings while dancing around the two lovebirds* Zalio and Stesa, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!**

 **Stesa: *raises bow* Do you want to be shot?**

 **Zalio: *yawns* This is oddly fitting with it being Valentine's Day…**

 **D: Lexal, I dare you to Velcro yourself to the ceiling and pounce on the first person that comes in.**

 **Aleks: I'm not ******* doing that!  
Lex: We have to…*sighs* There's no way that we can escape doing the dares… **

**Lexal: *velcros self to ceiling***

 **Soul: I think it's more like they'll fall on the first person who enters because they're too heavy for the velcro.**

 **Télos: *kicks open door, holding out box* Hey Sea, I just got some yummy pumpkin pie-**

 **Lexal: *falls***

 **Télos: *stares at crushed box* My pie!**

 **Questions time!  
**

 **Q: Zalio, would you rather be able to fly or be able to teleport?**

 **Zalio: *yawns* Flying sounds cooler. Think how awesome it would be!  
**

 **Q: Stone, would you like to be my friend?**

 **Stone: S-S-Sure?  
Soul: Poor guy is so confused!**

 **Q: Soul, who is your favorite character to write (not limited to this story)?**

 **Soul: Ooh, a question for me! :D I think it's a tie between Télos, Kaito, the new guy, and Captain Foxy in The Reborn King. Télos and Kaito can both be idiots sometimes – I say that in a loving way – which can be a lot of fun to write. The two are also pretty positive characters…most of the time. When they're not, I get the chance to write some good old angsty stuff. I like the new character for reasons that I can't say right now because SPOILER, but he's pretty fun to write. I love writing Captain Foxy because he's an incredibly smart character. His interactions with other characters, especially Lorcan, make me smile. Actually, Lorcan and Second should be on the list too. As you can see, I like writing a lot of my characters. So that means it comes pretty easy to me! :D**


	4. Chapter 3: A Reversal of Roles

**A/N Hi! Surprise update with some awesome announcements! :D Warning, the next chapter deals with child abuse. The rest of the story, in fact, will deal with it. I'm sorry in advance if you aren't comfortable with reading about that.**

 **ANNOUCEMENTS-I got a DeviantArt and Quotev! My username on both are SoulErrorArwitch, so please check me out! I have a sketch of Télos on DeviantArt, and Quotev is home to a quiz that has to do with this fanfiction. Please check it out!**

 **Disclaimer-Microsoft owns Minecraft, not me!**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3:**

 **A Reversal of Roles**

Some God's PoV:

He gave a startled yelp as the broom he was resting against fell to the ground. His mask skid against the prismarine floor, and he rushed to grab it. That was the first of the Rules in his life. Said Rules could never be broken, or he would be punished. He remembered that being enforced since he was less than a decade old. The First Rule was to never let anyone see behind the mask. By this point in time, he believed that exposure to the face that lay beneath would be equivalent to death. His clothing style was not dictated by this Rule. The Rule that stated his outfit was predesignated was the Third Rule.

The original Five Rules, the "Almighty Rules", had been written down long ago in sloppily and hard to read handwriting. With an endless amount of time on his hands, he had worked hard to memorize them. As the years passed, he had concocted a list containing Thirteen Rules, eight more than the original. He called the newer ones "His Rules", ones that were his own.

He brought the list out from his pocket and looked it over.

First Rule: Never remove your mask in front of others.

Second Rule: Never disobey Mother.

Third Rule: Never wear clothes not approved by Mother – the preferred ones are the black ones and your cloak.

Fourth Rule: Never allow anyone else into the palace without Mother's permission.

Fifth Rule: Never be afraid.

Sixth Rule: Try to smile underneath your mask, but don't let Mother know.

Seventh Rule: When you read a book, try to come up with another story for it.

Eighth Rule: Let yourself imagine being rescued, but don't believe that it will ever happen.

Ninth Rule: Train like all of your heroes do. That way your chosen will be proud of you when you find them.

Tenth Rule: Keep the palace clean.

Eleventh Rule: If possible, befriend the guardians and squids.

Twelfth Rule: Don't give up.

Thirteenth Rule: Believe in your chosen.

The Thirteenth Rule had been written less than a year ago. As his chosen still didn't appear, he found it harder and harder to follow that Rule. He was tempted to cross it out, but each time something stopped him before he could do it.

Maybe it was because he didn't want to give up on his one hope.

Kaito Shion's PoV:

Kaito sneezed. He hoped it wasn't because he was getting a cold. He couldn't afford a cold with the discovery of actual gods. And if Télos was comfortable with the idea of him being a player, didn't that mean that there was other players out there too?

Kaito fingered his new necklace as he followed Télos. He couldn't tell the truth, of course. That would be a stupid mistake, one that he couldn't afford to make.

"So, other players," Kaito casually started, hoping to get Télos to tell him so more about the players that had to be stuck in Minecraft. When the god remained silent, Kaito rushed up to his side. Walking backwards – a technique that he had perfected over the last two years – Kaito asked, "Is there any other players stuck in Minecraft, Télos?"  
"Yeah." Télos grinned proudly. "One of my chosen is. Lex was But he's dead."

Kaito stopped. Télos, unprepared, bumped into the blue-haired man. "Did you just say what I thought you said?" Kaito managed to get out slowly, staring at Télos.

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence.

"You can't just say something like that and not explain what it means! Honestly, you're as bad as Sebastian was!" The name slipped out of his mouth without him wanting it to. Luckily, Télos didn't appear to notice. Kaito hadn't slipped like that for over a year, and it hadn't even crossed his mind to monitor what he was saying.

"He died in a mobile auto crash."

"Mobile auto? Do you mean an automobile? A car? Lex died in a car crash?"

Télos snapped his fingers. "That's what it was called! But yeah, he did. So now Lex and Aleks share a body. So I sort of have two chosen, but everyone thinks I just have one."

"Uh-huh," Kaito managed to get out.

"And then there's Phoenix," Télos continued, oblivious to Kaito's confusion. "She's my wife's chosen. And she and Lex are dating. Poor Aleks just comes along for the ride, I guess."

All that Kaito could do was nod. But his assumption had been right – other players were in Minecraft as well. He would just have to meet them. Then he could figure out some semblance of a plan of action.

"That was fast," Télos suddenly commented. "We're here. Welcome to Hero's base!"

* * *

Claire was friendly. Kaito liked Claire. Unlike her husband, she seemed open to people. Herobrine (Hero. God, Kaito was going to have trouble remembering to not call him that.) seemed just a bit antisocial.

He hadn't even met Hero's chosen, but he was betting that they were just as serious as he was. At the moment, Kaito was hating Télos. The god of gold had abandoned him soon upon entering the complex. He had to face Hero alone. _Thanks Télos,_ he dryly thought with a frown.

"Would you like something to drink, Kaito?" Claire asked, giving him a reassuring smile. Suddenly realizing how dry his throat actually was, the blue-haired man nodded. "I'll get some water."

She soon returned with the water. Kaito, though he knew that it wasn't polite to stare, couldn't help but keep glancing at the bulging belly that was certainly not hidden underneath Claire's shirt.

She laughed when she noticed. "Yes, I'm expecting. Oracle is as well."

"That is where Télos went," Hero suddenly spoke up. The god of light glanced in what Kaito guessed to be a nervous way at the door to the laboratory. Kaito's eyes followed Hero's gaze. "He is not as worried as I am…" Even though Hero faced the room's two other occupants, he continued to glance at it.

"That's because you're worrying too much, Hero," Claire said with a sigh.

Kaito watched the exchange with interest in his blue eyes. Would this type of thing happen to him someday? At his age, it was time for him to start thinking about things like love, right? He wondered what his soul mate would be like. Kind? Sarcastic? Tough? Evil? Hopefully it would be the first-

He shook his head frantically. _Don't think about that!_ Kaito told himself. Now was not the time to be wishing that he could find someone to love-

 _Argh! Stupid hormones!_

While Kaito was very tempted to slam his head against the desk, he resisted the urge. He didn't want to appear crazy in front of Hero and Claire.

The door suddenly flew open. Télos stumbled into the room. Hero rushed to his feet and hurried to his best friend's side, Kaito quickly following suit. "What is wrong?" he asked.

Télos gave a tight-lipped grin. "I've got another one."

"Another what?" Kaito question.

"I saw him in a vision," Télos explained without answering Kaito's question. He made his way over to the table. His wife was nowhere to be found.

"Saw who?"

"Oracle's messaging Glow and Stone. The two are going to pick him up. He's in the Nether," the god of gold informed Hero. Hero nodded as Claire rushed to get another glass of water.

"Who are you talking about?"

Télos groaned, resting his head against the cool table. "And now I'm going to need another room. Great. And I haven't even finished the baby's one!"  
"Who the Nether are you talking about?!" Kaito's exclamation finally gained him Télos' attention.

"I've got another chosen," he said. The grin grew larger, Télos having recovered the strength robbed from him during the vision. "He's a player, Kaito!"

Stone's PoV:

He was so nervous. He could barely keep his hand from shaking as it rested on the hilt of his golden sword. The young teenager peeked over the netherrack and glanced around for possible players. When he saw none, he quickly scrambled over the netherrack and down the small slope.

He wished that he wasn't alone. But having a good immune system can have a price, and that price this time was having to go out on his own.

He knew his beanie was sliding off, and the shirt that he was wearing was too big for his jacket. In his defense, clothes were a relatively new concept.

 _You can do this,_ he reminded himself. He had been training. He was strong now, and he didn't need to rely on his brother in order to survive.

Yet he failed on his first solo mission. The player that he was supposed to find was nowhere to be found, having disappeared as if he was a ghost. That thought admittedly sent shivers up his small spine.

He rushed back to the house when he couldn't find the player. Glow would know what to do. He always did. And if he didn't know what the right response was, he certainly knew how to improvise.

He threw the door open to find his sick brother and a half-naked boy having a stalemate. The two were both wielding poor excuses for weapons, Glow's being his pillow and the boy's being a simple stick.

The two turned to the doorway when they realized that someone had interrupted their dramatic battle.

"Brother!" Stone exclaimed, running to Glow's side. "You're supposed to be resting in bed, not fighting!"

"But he just barged in here," Glow weakly protested with a cough. Stone sighed and pushed him into the bed.

"If I see you get up, I'm telling Phoenix on you. And if that doesn't stop you, Brother, I'll tell Oracle!"

Glow frowned, crossing his arms in defeat. "Fine," he agreed. "I'll stay in bed. Just as long as _he_ leaves!"

"I told you, I thought this place was abandoned!" the boy shouted. He seemed to have had it with Stone's hotheaded older brother, and was sending the best glare that Stone had ever seen in Glow's direction. "And the only reason I started to even raid your food was because you were practically dead underneath those blankets!"

Stone suddenly stared at the boy. Said boy was dressed in a simple white loincloth. No ornaments adorned his outfit, save for the amulet hanging around his neck. He glared at Glow with dark brown eyes, and his brown hair was messy. The boy had dark skin.

His appearance matched the description that Oracle had given him and his brother. He started to ask why his brother hadn't realized it, until he saw the reason laying on the nightstand next to his brother's bed. With a sigh, he walked over and slipped his brother's glasses on. That had been the one downside to the transformation – as a pigman, Glow could see perfectly fine. As a human, his eyesight was terrible.

"The thief is Télos chosen?!" Glow suddenly exclaimed.

"I guess so," Stone replied.

The boy watched the two of them warily. "Chosen?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"You have the powers of a god," Glow explained. He sat up in his bed, even though Stone shot him a look. "That's why you're in Minecraft, EvasiveCartwheel."

The player stiffened. "How did you know my username?"

"I saw you wandering outside the window yesterday," Glow replied, pointing his thumb at the window next to his bed. "It was hovering right above your head."

There was an awkward silence.

"I'm Stone," the younger of the brothers offered his hand to the new chosen.

"Glow," his brother begrudgingly said, still not forgiving the player for his intrusion.

The boy stared down at Stone's outstretched hand. "I'm Katy Jones," he finally admitted.

Glow and Stone blinked.

"KA-KATTTYYYY?!"


	5. Chapter 4: You Have One New Message

**Chapter 4:**

 **You Have One New Message**

Kaito Shion's PoV:

Oracle finally entered the room, a troubled expression on her face. She walked over to her husband. "Télos, your chosen has a… _problem."  
_ Kaito wondered what type of problem she could be talking. Better yet, how did she what the problem was? Wasn't Télos' chosen in the Nether? How on Minecraftia did Oracle find out what it was?

"What's wrong?" Télos questioned. He didn't seemed too concerned. If anything, he was more curious about his new chosen. "It can't be that bad, right? Right?"

"Your chosen is a girl."

It took a good minute for Télos to understand what had just been said. Kaito tried to understand what was wrong with that – another question on how this whole god thing worked – but he couldn't come up with a good reason. He didn't see Télos as sexist, yet gender was somehow an issue here.

"Oh Ether," he managed to get out, hand flying up to his mouth in shock. "My poor chosen!"

"Why is that bad?" Kaito finally piped up. Oracle sent a questioning glance in his direction – Télos probably hadn't gotten to tell her about him.

"His – er, her – skin was a boy's. A boy that was only wearing a loincloth."

 _Loincloth…? I think I read a book series like that-_ Kaito's eyes widened. He had, hadn't he?! "Does she have an amulet hanging over her chest?" Kaito excitedly questioned.

"Yes…?" Télos slowly replied. "How did you know that?"

Realizing that he was probably acting too immature, Kaito calmed himself outwardly before speaking. "I read a book series back on Earth. The main character looked like her." It wasn't a well-known book series. In fact, Kaito had never met another fan. But he had really enjoyed reading, and the thought that there was someone else who liked it made him happier than he had been in a long time.

Upon realizing that Oracle still didn't know his name, he stuck his hand out towards her. "I'm Kaito Shion. I've been living on Minecraftia for two years now, and apparently my god is one no one knows about."

"You didn't mention that," Claire suddenly spoke up. "What is your god the god of?"

"Water," he replied. Kaito focused on his still outstretched hand. A small ball of water formed in his hand, and he gave it a quick poke to show how strong it was. "See?"

"We need to find him or her," Oracle decided. "We do not want a repeat of End."

"Agreed," Hero said.

For some reason, Kaito saw Télos stare down at the ground at the mention of this mysterious End. "What about my chosen?" he finally asked, looking up. "What should we do about her?"

"Phoenix and Lexal are in the Nether right now," Claire brought up. Kaito made a mental note of that. All of the other players were in there. Once they found his god, he would have to head there. "The two can explain things to her better than Glow and Stone could. Anyways, I believe that being with players is something more comforting to her."

Oracle nodded before closing her eyes. About a minute later, she finally opened them. "I told Glow and Stone to find Phoenix, and told Phoenix that they're coming-"

"You _have_ to do it, Aleks!" Télos suddenly shouted. Everyone stared. He blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry," he apologized. "I forget how I'm supposed to speak to them in here," He tapped his forehead with his finger. "and not out loud."

"So gods and their chosen have telepathic messaging? Like texting with your brains?"

Texting was lost on the assembled group, but they seemed to understand the question that she was asking them. "Yes," Hero replied. "We can telepathically speak with our chosen."

"Have you tried the other way around?" Kaito asked.

"Nope!" Télos replied. "I mean, we only do it when we're desperate."

Kaito closed his eyes and held his arms close against his sides. "I'm going to try it," he explained. "Maybe I could find my god."

He wasn't quite sure how the gods did it, but he was going to try it in his own special way. He imagined a cellphone, and imagined calling his god on it. Because of the lack of information on said god, he didn't even know the name. But he had to try!

 _Hello?_ Kaito hesitantly asked. _Anyone home?_

He got no response.

"Bad reception," he grumbled, much to the group's confusion. He tried again. Yet he had the strangest feeling that his message was reaching his god. Or someone. Maybe he had accidentally dialed the wrong number. _Look, if you're there, can you please tell me where you are? I kind of need to find you._

Kaito jumped when he heard a young boy say, _I've finally gone crazy…_ The boy sounded on the verge of tears.

 _Who are you?_

He heard a sniffle.

 _Aquarius,_ the boy replied. _And I'm talking to you now…I knew that I was going to become crazy. I knew it._

 _Are you my god?_

The sudden question made Aquarius hesitate for a second. _What do you look like? Do you have blue hair? Blue eyes?_ The boy's tone seemed hopeful, instead of the depressed one that he had moments before.

 _That's me. I'm Kaito Shion._

Aquarius sounded as if he was crying when he replied with, _You're him. You're my chosen. You're coming, aren't you? You're really, honestly coming?_

 _Yeah. I'll find you, Aquarius. Just tell me where you are, and I'll be there as quick as possible._

Aquarius fell silent.

 _Aquarius?_

 _I'm somewhere underwater…I don't know where…Please don't get mad at me!_

 _Why would I get mad?_ Kaito questioned, bewildered. When Aquarius didn't answer, he added, _Well, w_ _e'll figure it out. I'm coming. I promise you!_

Kaito finally opened his eyes. He didn't speak for a minute, thinking about the conversation. Something was horribly wrong. But what? Aquarius had the voice of someone young. He didn't know if gods could change their voices, but for some reason that was the voice that he had chosen or been given. And that plead for him not to get mad…Kaito's eyes widened.

"Oh my God," Kaito muttered. "Oh my freaking God."

"What's wrong?" Télos questioned.

"I just spoke to my god. His name is Aquarius…Gods are born from a mother and father, right?"

Télos nodded. "Yeah, we are."

"I think Aquarius is a kid, at least in god terms," Kaito explained. "Does child abuse exist on Minecraftia?"

Once his question sunk in, the group suddenly understood what Kaito was getting at. "I'm not sure," he quickly added. "But just from the way that he was talking to me, I think so. He asked me not to get mad at him because he didn't know exactly where he was. The fact that he has no idea where he is adds even more fuel to the fire, right?"

"Then we have to find him," Claire decided. "It's even more urgent than before. But how?"

"Teleporting with the help of enderman would work," Télos suggested. "But it's probably underwater, so I doubt I would get help with that…"

"I overheard Phoenix telling Lex about armor enchants that allow you to go underwater. I believe that they were called respiration and depth strider. Respiration is applied to a helmet to breath, and depth strider allows you to move faster if you apply it to your boots."

"Isn't a potion of water breathing useful?" Claire questioned. "I should have those enchantment books and that potion lying around somewhere in here. Oh, a night vision potion would come in handy as well. Now all you need is armor."

Télos grinned. "I've got that part under control. Just let me make a quick trip to the End, and then we're all set!"

* * *

"I feel like an idiot," Kaito commented as he stared down at the armor. "Like I'm a Medieval knight wannabe."

Télos crossed his arms. "Well, would you rather wear the whole set or just the helmet and boots? Because you would look even stupider then."

"So you acknowledge that me, you, and Hero, all look like idiots?"  
Télos hesitated. "Yes."

From the End, the god of gold had brought with him one set of armor to enchant. Hero already had a diamond one in his room – something that amazed Kaito – so he was good. Télos had created his own with his powers of gold. The set that he had returned with, however, was the one that Kaito was stuck with.

Said set was all black. He guessed that made sense, since it was coming from the End. But it made him feel as if he was some evil knight, rather than Aquarius' chosen. He sighed as he made his way to the doorway. "Let's go," he said. As long as Kaito reminded himself that it was for Aquarius, he would be alright. Hopefully, anyways.

Hero was in charge of the potions' bag. When they reached the water, he was supposed to hand it out to them. Apparently, now that Kaito had established some sort of connection with Aquarius, he would be able to sense the general location that Aquarius was in.

He suddenly rushed back into the room. "Claire?" he asked. "Can you pass on a message for me somehow? It doesn't really matter how you tell her."

"To who?" Claire asked.

"There's a village north of here that I live in. In the village, there's this old woman who has a table full of trinkets in the center of town. Her name is Rizan. If you ask a villager kid where Grandma is, they'll show you to her. Please tell her that I'm alright. Tell her that the kid is off on a quest. She'll know who you're talking about."

"Sure," Claire smiled. "I will."

"Thank you!" Kaito exclaimed, running over and hugging her.

Aquarius' PoV:

He was more excited than he had ever been before. "He's coming!" Aquarius exclaimed, still having trouble grasping the idea that he wasn't going to be alone any more. That his chosen really was going to find him.

Being filled with more energy than usual at the thought, Aquarius found himself rushing throughout the palace in attempt to do some last minute cleaning. He skid to a halt when he realized that he had no idea what was going to happen after Kaito – his chosen had such a cool name – arrived.

He had surprisingly never given it that much thought. Was Kaito going to stay? Or was he going to take Aquarius with him? A tiny part of him hoped that it would be the latter. _Just in case,_ Aquarius decided, _I'll pack my stuff._

He hurried to the storage room, and began the difficult task of dragging one of the chests inside of it out into the hallway. Somehow, the young god managed to reach his room. He sat down on his bed with a sigh. It was hard figuring out what to put in the chest. There was only so much room.

"My clothes," Aquarius decided out loud. He removed them from his dresser and placed them at the bottom of the trunk. He also grabbed his hairbrush and toothbrush.

After a moment of thinking, he walked to the library and began to take his favorite books of the shelves. Books that he had literally memorized from constantly reading them. On top of the books he placed his other two masks. And the last thing that he packed was his precious doll.

He realized that Kaito would probably be creeped out by the doll because of how scary it looked. Also, because it bore a strange resemblance to his chosen. Maybe that was why he had instinctively clung to it when he was little? Because he knew his chosen would look very similar?

He suddenly became aware of the sound of someone coming down the hallway. He froze. What if it was Mother? She always sent someone to inform him beforehand of her visits. Or Father? Father was even more terrifying. How would either of his parents react to seeing a chest in the middle of the room?

He tried to push his chest to one of the corners of his room, or at least against the wall before the unknown person entered.

He was in the middle of leaning against it in an attempt to push it farther when he heard someone say, "Who are you?"

He froze and slowly turned to the doorway. Standing in it was a mob on two legs (which limited what type of mob the intruder was) whose features were concealed by black armor.

"Gah!" the mob cried out, stumbling backwards in what Aquarius guessed to be terror. He glanced at the mirror that was against the wall. He could see why the unknown mob was scared of him – he looked like the Grim Reaper that he had read about in his books, thanks to his mask and his black cloak. "G-G-Gr-Grim R-Re-Reaper! Don't reap my soul-Wait a second. You're small!"

The mob hesitated before reentering the room. He removed the helmet that he was wearing to reveal the face of young human man. The face that Aquarius had been thinking about ever since he had the vision two years before.

"Aquarius?" Kaito Shion questioned.

He managed to give a nod. This moment seemed so strange, so unnatural. Wishes weren't supposed to come true like this in real life. That was something that only happened in a fairy tale. Tears began to spill over as he stared up at his chosen. His knight-in-shining-armor. His savior.

To his surprise, Kaito crouched to the ground and hugged him. Hugs were only something that he had read about. To have someone give him one was just as strange as this entire situation. "It's alright," Kaito quietly reassured him. "I've got you, Aquarius."

Aquarius cried into Kaito's shoulder.

It was at that moment that Aquarius realized he _had_ followed the Thirteenth Rule. He had, somehow, managed to believe in his chosen.


	6. Chapter 5: Paranoia

**Chapter 5:**

 **Paranoia**

Kaito Shion's PoV:

He hadn't been expecting what had been awaiting him in the palace Aquarius was in. The entire place was in a state of neglect, and Kaito had the sneaking suspicion that Aquarius was the one who had been trying to keep it tidy over the years. Though he had never been one for swearing, Kaito promised himself to give both of Aquarius' parents the middle finger when he met them.

And Aquarius…He knew that his god was broken. But it wasn't until Aquarius was sobbing in his arms that he realized just how broken he really was.

"Do you want to sit down?" Kaito questioned his god. Aquarius managed to give a nod, and the two made their way over to his bed. "We have to wait a bit," Kaito explained after an awkward silence. "Apparently I can breath underwater. So I promised that I would find you, and Télos – he's the god of gold – said that he would find an enderman willing to teleport here. I had an hour."

"How long has it been?" Aquarius quietly asked.

"Ten minutes." Kaito smiled at him. "So we get to really know each other, I guess. Which I think is a good thing."

They both fell silent, neither willing to speak. Kaito occupied himself with taking in all of Aquarius's stuffed animals. Two years ago, he himself had sported an even larger collection.  
"…I recognize the name Télos," Aquarius suddenly said.

"You do?" Kaito questioned, surprised.

The god of water nodded. "I overheard Mother talking about him to Father and another god…"

Shivers raced up Kaito's spine. If Aquarius's parents were talking about Télos, that couldn't possibly be a good thing. But then a thought that would only come from the darkest parts of someone's heart presented itself to Kaito. How did he know that Télos, Hero, Oracle, and Claire were the good guys? He had only met them today. Sure, they seemed concerned about Aquarius being abused. But what if it was because they had played a part in it, and they didn't want Kaito to find that out?

 _Don't think like that,_ Kaito scolded himself. If he continued thinking like that, he would end up permanently paranoid.

Aquarius stared at him, his emotions hidden behind his mask.

Kaito needed to get his mind off of his doubt. He knew that he could trust Aquarius. If he just remembered that, then he wouldn't be feeling as if he was insane. _Too late,_ he thought with an inward sigh. "Do you like ice cream?" he suddenly asked.

"Ice-cream?" Aquarius asked. "What's ice cream?"

Kaito gave a gasp in mock horror. "You don't know what _ice cream_ is?!" His god nervously nodded. "This is an outrage, Aquarius! The minute you step foot into my town, I'm dragging you to the ice cream shop!" he decided, pointing at Aquarius with his pointer finger.

"But what is ice cream?" he quietly repeated his question.

Kaito toned it down. Well, attempted to, anyways. "Ice cream is one of the best things that man and villager have ever created. It's sweet, has multiple flavors, and so cool…" The blue-haired man was now both hungry and desperate for a scoop of ice cream. He had been planning on buying one when he came back from hunting, but then Télos had dragged him off to Hero's base…Kaito sighed in frustration. God, he really wanted his ice cream.

"Kaito?"

"Yeah?"

"What is your family like?"

The question took him by surprise. He supposed telling Aquarius the truth wouldn't hurt, especially since he wouldn't give him enough information to start getting suspicious.

"I never really saw my parents as family members," he admitted. He stared down at his legs. "I was rich before coming to Minecraftia. My parents owned a mansion in one of the richest parts of town. My mom was an actress, and my dad was an actor. They had met during a movie shoot – a movie is a story, basically – and then they got married and had me after dating for a couple of months. I was their only child. They expected me to take over the acting career when I got older, so they also expected me to be the perfect son."

He finally looked up at Aquarius, looked into the god's light green eyes even though he knew that could be suicidal. "That's one of the flaws of both of our worlds, Aquarius. Everyone wants you to act a certain way based on _their_ ideas, and if you aren't brave enough to say that you wanted to live your life in the way you want, you're never going to be free of the system."

Télos' PoV:

"Who will you ask for assistance?" Hero questioned from next to him. The god of gold was grateful that he had been best friends with Hero for so long – it allowed him to understand what exactly he meant when speaking far too formally.

Télos glanced at one of the many towers that were sprinkled throughout the End. "Um, someone," he slowly replied.

"Who?" Hero repeated. Darn it. His best friend was almost certainly onto him. Télos continued to look at the various sights that the End had to offer. Anything that would delay having to glance into Hero's pupiless eyes.

"A mob," Télos hesitantly replied. He couldn't help a peek in Hero's direction. He was greeted by a look of disbelief.

"You do not know," Hero realized. "Do you?"

A groan escaped his lips. Hero had, as he inevitably would, caught on. Télos cursed his lack of intelligent answers. "It wasn't like I could tell Kaito!" he protested. He skid to a halt in front of Hero. "It would be like, 'Oh, we're going to drown. Since you're like a fish trapped in a human's body, we'll let you stick down here! And I don't really know anyone to help get you, so prepare to spend the rest of your life under the sea with the squids and guardians!'"

"You could have told him. He seems to be understanding."

Télos sighed. He glanced around for a minute before speaking in a lowered whisper. "Look, Hero, the endermen don't exactly like me." That was always a hard fact to swallow. Before the incident, they had gotten along just fine. "So that's why I don't have anyone I can ask…I didn't want to explain it to Kaito. That's the real reason. I'm too much of a coward to own up to the mistakes that I committed."

Hero opened his mouth, as if he wanted to make a comment. But before he could do so, a voice reached Télos' ears. "Do you need an enderman to teleport you into the ocean?" a young woman asked. Télos turned. The speaker was a short enderman. The eyes that peered out from the cowls of her old, tan cloak were both intelligent and haunted, and her left hand rested on the hilt of a gold sword at her side.

"Yeah," Télos replied. He was suddenly struck by a strange feeling as he stared at her. Was it his internal warning system going off? But when he glanced at Hero, his best friend showed no signs of being wary. _Oh Ether. Not now. Please not now. I've got one to deal with already. I don't need another. Let me be wrong. Please let me be wrong!_

He would have to deal with the predicament later.

"I'll do it," she offered.

 _Horse manure._

"Thanks," he managed to get out, giving a smile that Hero would instantly see as fake. "We need to teleport to Kaito Shion. Blue hair, blue eyes. Chosen one of Aquarius, god of water."

Unknown PoV:

He landed on the courtyard, sneakers gently touching the grass that covered the grass as he did so. Silently, he made his way to the discussion room. Gone were the days of vast throne rooms. The modern model, according to _him_ – he thought of the human with disgust – was of advanced redstone technology and conference tables. Various models and charts that the human created were a bore to him. He wanted to feel the blood drench his very being. Small talk was not his specialty, nor his definition of the road to world domination.

"You've finally arrived," the human greeted him as he stormed into the room. He knew that it grew upset if he placed his feet on the pristine table, so he did exactly that. When the human looked aggravated, he flashed him a grin.

Revenge was _so_ sweet.

"What took you so long?" The woman who spoke was one that he some semblance of respect for. However, that respect was very, very weak.

"None of your business," he coldly replied. "You don't have me under your thumb, Eras." He gestured to the human. "Neither does your human pet."

"Watch your tongue, Janos," the woman snarled with a glare that would frighten most. However, he was not most mobs. "I could easily expel you from this palace and sending you plummeting to your death."

He simply pointed a thumb back at the wings that would suit an angel of death.

"It's a wonder that we get _any_ work done here," the human said with a groan. "Eras, dear, it's alright. Janos is just a weak, foolish god that can't do anything. That's why he is lashing out at me. And Janos, we really need to know what you've been up to."

With a glare filled with enough hatred to kill a god, he reluctantly recounted his experiences. "I was going to recruit, but then I decided to stop by the Nether," he began. He spun around in his seat, fangs glinting in the light of the glowstone. "It appears that a certain god of gold has gained himself another weak human chosen."

Eras' face remained impassive. He had expected that it would – she was not one for trivial emotions.

 **A/N Hello, wonderful Souls! Never fear, TheHopefulSoul is here! Today marks an important day for me. However, I'll start this author's note by explaining the name change.**

 **We all live in a world that is chock full of problems. Sad things happen, people are mistreated, and violence unfortunately plagues the world. I've recently decided to declare myself an optimist. My goal when writing is to bring hope to my readers, therefore the "Hopeful" part of my new username was born. I want to bring hope to you guys, to light up your darkest days. My stories can be dark sometimes, but I want to always make you remember that life gets better. It always does.**

 **I loved being called Soul too much to change that part of my name. Anyways, I would have to redo a poll on what to call you guys. Imagine that you had become my Errors instead of Souls! I would be the TheHopeful _Error._ It seems just a bit contradictory.**

 **Okay, remember how I said that today marks something really important for me? I'll jump back a year for a quick moment. Imagine I, a writer intent on the goal of embracing my beloved fandoms through writing, having been writing fanfictions since I discovered a link to this wonderful website on my favorite author, Johnathon Stroud. Now that I have become a dedicated fanfiction writer, I truly admire him for that – but that is a story for another day.**

 **A year ago, I decided to create account simply to review. My first fanfictions, in my opinion then and now, had been trash. The character that was the center of almost all of them was constantly out of character. The ideas were good though, and they were _different._ That same thought of writing unique plots, along with a picture I found on the world wide web, made me bingewrite and publish _Truth: The One Thing Often Overlooked._**

 **I was shocked to find that people liked it. It was an amazing feeling, one that I had never truly experienced before. And now I have officially become obsessed with this wonderful world of fanfiction.**

 **So yes, this is my fanversary. I've been a part of this website for one year, and I've loved every minute of it.**

 **There's a lot of people that I want to thank. First off, I want to thank every single writer on here. Your ideas inspired mine. And even if I haven't read your fanfiction, I'm grateful that other people treasure their fandoms enough to write stories about them. Next, I wanted to thank all of the readers. Without you, I would simply be posting my stories online. Your inputs help me a lot, even though you don't know it.**

 **Now here's the part about the specific users.**

 **Thank you Zelda48, curligurl0896, ThreeKittiesDancing, Tyto11, FlareHeart404, ThatRandomMooshroom, GalaxyFangirl, Darksorceress16, Animefox46, NoxPerpetuo, BlockDebockle, EnhancedHD, Fluffy543, Void of Shining Darkness, Platypotato, DarkWolf133, Mr. Villager, Watcher321, HiDeKiThEhIdDeN, and DiamondMiner37 for reviewing my stories.**

 **Thank you iamsolarflare for being the first person to review my first story on here. Without it, I might have never gotten this far.**

 **Thank you LarkSweetsong for being my first friend on Fanfiction – I'm sorry for the lack of PMs lately. I really want to catch up on your story and review it first.**

 **Thank you FlufferNutter Sandwich for the creation of Phoenix and Carly. Both of them have really impacted the course of A Hero's Destiny. Like with RavenstarIsAwesome, I haven't forgotten you.**

 **Thank you Dannyjamesjannydames for the creation of Aleks. He has impacted A Hero's Destiny and its sequel so much, and my writing in general that I can't begin to describe how thankful I am. Like with FlufferNutter Sandwich and RavenstarIsAwesome, I'll never forget you.**

 **Thank you RavenstarIsAwesome for being an awesome reviewer and friend. Though I haven't heard from you in ages, I still remember you.**

 **Thank you DawnTotadile for being a great friend, and for all of our fandom-based banter.**

 **Thank you The scribe of the 4th brother for sticking with A Hero's Destiny and a bunch of my other stories. You always come up with great dares, and I'm glad to call you friend.**

 **Thank you Raiden the OC. Or, as I prefer to say, Random the OC. You were the first person who ever asked me to be friends; now looking back, I realize that – even if away from the screen – I'm the one who asks first. You've unlocked my love of roleplay. You're one of my most consistent readers. Like The scribe of the 4th brother, you have been granted the ability of creating great dares and questions.**

 **Finally, thank you CsMelody. You were the first person who ever understood my Bartimaeus rants. You've been a great friend in the time we've known each other, and I love our discussions. There's been countless times you've been awesome towards me – like reading Entwined Worlds without reading Heroes of Olympus.**


	7. Chapter 6: Let the Games Begin

**A/N Hello, wonderful Souls! TheHopefulSoul here to bring you another chapter of Saviors of the Future. I'm sorry for not updating in awhile, but I have multiple chapters at my disposal to make up for it.**

 **I have a warning for everyone. From this point on, swears are no longer going to be written with asterisks. That means Aleks's dialogue will be filled with swears. I just thought it was wise to warn anyone who is uncomfortable with that.**

 **Things in store for you awesome readers: a new character, Kaito's identity revealed, and worry on a certain god of gold's part.**

 **Disclaimer-I don't own Minecraft, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, or Black Butler.**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 6:**

 **Let the Games Begin**

 **Sebastian's PoV:**

"Hi Katy. It's Bas. I just wanted you to know that I'm playing Hunger Games now. Call me when you come on. Bye." With a pale finger, he ended the call. He was disturbed. It wasn't like Katy to be late for something Minecraft-related. Especially if she was going to be uploading onto her YouTube channel. He tried calling Renee, but was met with her voicemail like he had been with Katy.

 _Maybe,_ the darkness inside of him thought, _they're doing something together without you._ His hand hovered over his mouse. They had been growing all the more distant since they began dating. But their love for each other had never threatened their friendship with him. Both made sure to tell him in advance if they were going on a date. Sometimes they would even invite him along. Surely, this was just a misunderstanding?  
But Katy and Renee would never miss a preplanned event without telling him…

His heart skipped a beat. What if something bad had happened to them? Terrified for their safety, he rushed to the door of his room, his avatar patiently waiting in the Hunger Games arena as the timer made its way to 1.

It was at that moment that he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He didn't know why he felt it – though he did a lot of gaming, he was a healthy person. And he was far too young to have a heart attack.

The pain began to spread throughout his body. It took every ounce of strength he possessed, paralyzing every muscle that it infected. Soon the pain turned into blissful numbness, and that numbness turned into a descending darkness that he doubted he would ever awaken from.

* * *

He groaned at the initial soreness he felt. However, a minute later he found that it had vanished. _I must have hit the floor when I went unconscious,_ he reasoned as he got to his feet. For some strange reason, he was quite cold.

And for some strange reason, he was in an abandoned building.

He crossed his arms as he took in the building. It looked as if it had been bombed at one point in time. A cold breeze blew through the building.  
He finally looked down.

He was wearing what appeared to be a miniskirt and bra. His face went pale as he looked up at his hair. _Like a palm tree…_ he realized with horror. He was Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Was this some crazy fanfiction where characters and actual people swapped bodies?! Envy was evil. He didn't want him to wreak havoc while looking like him!

Suddenly, a sword was thrust in his direction. He narrowly dodged its tip. The sword was gray, and its wielder was a girl with cat ears. He groaned. A fanfiction where he switched bodies with the bad guy that unfortunately also had cat-girl chimeras.

Just as the girl went to attack him again, her body fell limp to the floor. To add to his horror, her body burst into white particles that went up towards the sky.

The culprit was a young girl.

She had dark blue hair, and eyes the color of the ocean. She was smaller than him, but not by much. Her hoodie was the same color as her eyes, and her skirt matched the color of her hair. She held a sword in her hand. Like everything else about her, it was blue.

With barely any effort, she swung the sword at him. The only reason he managed to dodge was because he tripped over his own two feet. "I'm unarmed!" he cried out. He raised his hands up to block his face from the next attack.

But it never came.

He lowered his hands nervously. The girl was staring at him with wide eyes, her sword hanging limply at her side. "You spoke," she whispered in disbelief.

"Um…yeah. I did. Like I'm doing right now."

He watched in confusion as the girl closed her eyes and touched her forehead. After a minute of doing whatever she was doing, her hands returned to her side.

Suddenly, he found himself surrounded. There was a white-haired girl with a bow perched on a bit of rubble, a dark-haired girl wielding a blue longsword, and a green-haired boy wielding a blue longsword as well.

And they were all watching him.

"Who are you?" the boy asked him.

Feeling just a _bit_ threatened by their weapons, he decided to avoid giving his name for as long as possible. He gave what he hoped was a sly grin. "I'm simply one _hell_ of a butler."

 **Lex's PoV:**

"I wonder what Katy is like," Lex said as they waited in the castle. The limbs of the body that he shared with Aleks was still frustratingly sore. It had been that way for the past week, but Aleks apparently didn't feel anything out of the ordinary.

"She's a fucking player. Does anything else need to be fucking said?" came the other soul's response. He didn't resist when Aleks leaned back against the couch and placed their feet on the table.

Phoenix was silent for a minute before voicing her own thoughts. "She must be a good person," she decided. "You two are."

"But are chosen fucking good because their god is?" Aleks asked. "We were good even when the bastard was evil." Lex reached a hand forward and grabbed their sword. After withdrawing it from its sheath, Aleks began to polish it.

"Oracle would probably know," Lex helpfully suggested. "We could ask her."

The door opened. Two players entered the room. The first of the two had green hair that went a little past his shoulders, and on top of it had a beanie. He wore a pair of loose black shorts and a pale brown tank top. Like most in the Nether, his feet were bare. The boy quickly looked them over with dark brown eyes.

Phoenix got to her feet, Lex quickly following suit. "Hi, Stone," she kindly said. The young pigman gave a shy smile in return. The boy behind him had to be Katy Jones, Télos' newest chosen.

"It's nice to meet you," Phoenix said once the two had entered the room. "I'm Phoenix Aurum, one of Oracle's chosen."

"One?" Katy finally spoke. "There's others?"

"You're fucking standing next to one," Aleks quickly replied. Stone looked embarrassed to be the center of everyone's attention. Before Aleks could say anymore, Lex quickly added, "His brother is one as well."

"Why don't you come in and sit down?" Phoenix suggested.

Katy gladly did so. She sat down as far away as possible from the others, which wasn't that much. But the distance seemed to calm her. "I know this really confusing," Lex told her. "Phoenix and I both are players too. We're in bodies that don't belong to us-Hey, you bastard! You finally fucking acknowledge the fact that this is _my_ fucking body, but don't act like I don't fucking exist!"

An awkward silence followed.

"Do you have split personality disorder?" Katy questioned.

Lex sighed. "It's complicated."


	8. Chapter 7: Lies

**Chapter 7:**

 **Lies**

 **Télos' PoV:**

The longest hour in Télos' life had finally passed, and he was all set to meet Aquarius. He had figured out what he was going to say, for once, and even had an idea in mind regarding the god of water. But before they could teleport, Hero suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Hero!" he exclaimed, rushing to his best friend's side. Worried gnawed at him when the god of light was unresponsive. Terrified, Télos sat Hero up and frantically began to shake his shoulders. The unnamed enderman watched them from a couple of feet away.

Hero finally opened his eyes. Relief flooded Télos as he watched the god of light get to his feet. His body still shaking at the thought that he might have lost Hero, he somehow managed to get to his feet. "I am alright," his best friend reassured him. "Also, why is your hand raised?"

Télos stared guiltily at it. "Er…I was scared to death so I started waving my hands around like I was insane?" he half-questioned. _Don't let Hero catch on. Don't let Hero catch on…_

"Were you going to slap me if I did not wake up?"

Télos nervously laughed. "Slap you? Why would I do that?" Note to self: slapping someone to wake them up was something that was meant to stay in stories. "What happened, anyways?"

"So you _were_ going to slap me," Hero mused.

Télos' face grew red. "That's beside the point." Once his embarrassment subsided, he waited uncharacteristically patiently for an explanation.

"It appears that you are not the only one with a new chosen."

Télos instinctively glanced in the enderman's direction. He quickly looked back at Hero instead, remembering that his "newest" chosen was Katy. "What's your chosen like? Where are they?"

Hero smiled. "He is in the Hunger Games at the moment."

He stared at the god of light. "The Hunger Games?" he repeated in disbelief.

The smile stubbornly remained. "Yes. The Hunger Games."

"Then why on Minecraftia are you smiling, Hero?!" Télos exclaimed. "He could be killed before you even meet him!" Hero didn't offer an answer. That meant one thing: Télos should already know the answer.

He racked his brain for the reason. He had to know. If he didn't, Hero wouldn't still be smiling at him. The answer suddenly came to him. He grinned triumphantly. "Your chosen are at the same one he's at!"

Hero nodded. "Exactly." He closed his eyes for a second. "I have just informed them of his identity. They are going to meet us at Oracle's castle after we retrieve Aquarius and Kaito."

Télos didn't respond. He grabbed his braid and brought in front of him. Silently, he ran it through his fingers.

"What is wrong?"

His gaze traveled from his braid to Hero. "What do you mean?"

His best friend pointed at the braid. He guiltily let it go, and his hands returned to his side. "You only do that when you have your mind on something."

He slipped his hands into his pockets. "I've been thinking about Kaito," Télos admitted. "He seems like a nice guy, but…"

"He is hiding something," Hero finished. The god of gold nodded. "I have been thinking the same thing. It is just a feeling, yet it is a strong one."

Télos fiddled with the bracelet that he still had to give to Oracle. "I hope that he's not hiding something terrible, Hero. I really wish that he's as good as he seems to be."

He didn't tell his best friend that Kaito had pretended to be a god for the past two years of his life.

 **Kaito's PoV:**

 _She stood before him. Brown eyes, brown hair. The girl who would forever haunt his dreams. "I'm sorry," he tried to tell her, but the words wouldn't come out. Silently, she turned away._

 _He desperately reached a hand out. "I'm sorry!" he mouthed. "I'm sorry for abandoning you!" He stumbled after her as she began to walk away, but for every step he took, she took three more._

 _Tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't leave me! I need you!_ _I won't abandon you again!" She turned around to face the weeping man._

 _And then disappeared right before his eyes._

 _He fell to the floor, sobbing._

"Ka-Kaito?"

He opened his eyes. His limbs screaming out in protest, he sat up and took in the room with a pair of dazed blue eyes. "Yeah?" he questioned sleepily. He finally turned to face the speaker.

Aquarius watched him from the other end of the bed, hugging a doll that looked creepily like him close to his chest. The god of water stared at him with a pair of nervous green eyes. "Y-You fell asleep…and th-then started squirming…" The god tried to hide his head behind the doll.

He forced a grin. "I'm fine," he lied. "I was just dreaming of trying to make my way through a line in front of the ice cream shop. It was gigantic!" He stretched his arms out to emphasize it.

Aquarius seemed to believe his answer.

It was at that moment that dark purple particles began to form in the center of the room. When they finally faded away, Hero, Télos, and an enderman stood in their place.

Hero had turned pale. "My stomach does not feel good," he said.

"Hm…" Télos mused. "You _do_ get motion sickness sometimes. Interesting." The god of gold grinned evilly, and Kaito found himself worried about what Télos was planning on doing.

He also found himself being used as a shield by Aquarius. His god had managed to hide behind him incredibly fast. "Kaito," the god of water whispered, "do you know them?"

Kaito nodded. "The one with the golden eyes is Télos. Hero is the one that looks like he's going to puke his brains out. I don't know who the enderman is, but I know that they must have asked her for help."

Aquarius reluctantly pried himself away from his chosen. Upon noticing the younger god, Télos grinned and extended his hand out. "Hi Aquarius!" he exclaimed. "I'm Télos, god of gold and ruler of the End because a democracy takes an incredibly long time to be put into place!" When Aquarius clung to the area closest to Kaito, Télos withdrew his hand.

"My name is Hero. I am the god of light, and Télos' best friend," Hero introduced himself.

There was an awkward silence.

Then everyone's gazes fell on the one person who hadn't offered their name (excluding Kaito). The enderman shifted uncomfortably under their questioning stares. "Glistro," she simply said.

 _Anti-social much?_ Kaito go to his feet, armor creaking as he did so. His body was sore. Apparently, falling asleep in armor was something to be avoided. He smiled at Glistro. "Nice to meet you," he lied. "I'm Kaito Shion. Aquarius is my god."


	9. Chapter 8: Echo of the Past

**Chapter 8:**

 **Echo of the Past**

 **Bas' PoV:**

"I'm merely one _hell_ of a butler."

The reference was lost on the assembled group. He should have expected that result. After all, he was in Fullmetal Alchemist. He doubted that characters in one anime would know of another.

The green-haired boy yawned. "I meant your name," he informed him. After a quick glance around, the sword was returned to a sheath at the boy's side. The boy, yawning once more, walked over to him.

He stared at the hand the green-haired boy extended. "I'm Zalio," he introduced himself. "The girl behind you is Quartz." He turned. The girl offered him a shy smile. He nervously smiled back before focusing on the boy once more. "The girl with the leather jacket is Carlie."

"For Ether's sake, it's not leather!" the girl protested loudly. "I wouldn't go around wearing the skin of another cow!"

"The girl with the _fake_ leather jacket is Carlie," Zalio said. He glanced over his shoulder. "Is that better?"

Fake-Leather-Jacket Carlie gave a satisfied nod.

"And the girl shooting murderous glares in your direction that also looks as if she could kill a box full of kittens is my girlfriend Stesa."

The white-haired girl raised her bow and aimed the arrow at Zalio. "Do you want me to shoot you, Zalio?"

"Nope!" Zalio quickly replied, yawning yet again.

 _This is one weird fanfiction…_ he thought, staring at the group of people around him. The names didn't fit. They weren't even the cliché Japanese ones.

Then maybe he wasn't in a fanfiction?

His Minecraft skin was Envy.

He had been playing the Hunger Games when he went unconscious. The building he was in was suspiciously similar to one that had been a part of the arena he was in.

"I'm in Minecraft," he realized with dread.

The group exchanged glances. "We can explain everything to you," Quartz piped up from behind him. "Our god just wants us to bring you to the Nether."

"God?"

"We'll explain on the way," Zalio simply said as the others put away their weapons. "By the way, what's your name? All that you said was that you're a butler." Another yawn.

He ran to keep up with them. "My name is Sebastian. Sebastian Underwood."

 **Kaito's PoV:**

"There's so many people…" Kaito managed to get out. Next to him, Aquarius gave a nod. "It's like a party or something." People filled the large living room. Glistro had teleported them to Oracle's castle soon after introducing herself, and that was the same time that a new group of people had arrived. Their belongings had been left in a storage room. He was glad to get rid of the armor.

Kaito's first priority was to distance himself from the mass of people conversing. He did so by quickly locating an empty couch and trying to take up the majority of it. It wasn't hard. He was tall. But then he found that wasn't going to be an easy task – Aquarius had followed him.

"Wh-What are you doing?" the god of water questioned as Kaito made a space for Aquarius to sit on. Aquarius was still clinging to his doll.

"I'm player-hunting," Kaito replied.

Aquarius followed his gaze. "They all look like players," he pointed out. When Kaito sighed, Aquarius flinched.

"You're not in trouble," he quickly reassured his god. Aquarius nervously nodded. Then, a second later, Kaito was surprised to find the god of water leaning against his side and holding onto his arm. The doll lay forgotten on Aquarius' lap.

Trying to ignore the blush spreading across his cheeks, Kaito went back to searching for the players amid the people before him. The room's dim chatter fell silent as two oddly dressed individuals sized each other up.

"You're wearing a loincloth," the first said in disbelief. He was oddly familiar.

The second fingered the pendant above his chest. " _You're_ wearing a miniskirt and a bra." He jabbed his finger at the other boy's chest. "I don't think you should be talking, quite honestly."

The first boy took a step back, then – realizing that he was the taller of the two – leaned forward with a smirk. "Did you get that necklace at a costume shop? Because it looks pretty fake to me!"

"For your information," the boy growled, "it is real, but I guess you're too stupid to know the difference. And did you know that you look like a walking palm tree with that hair do of yours?"

The taller one was silent. He simply stared at the dark-skinned boy before him, looking up and down at him and his attire. "You're a player?" he quietly asked.

"Yes," the other boy slowly replied.

"Did you make that skin?"  
"If you're trying to insult me, that's the worst excuse for one that I've ever heard-" He paused when he saw the grin spreading across the first boy's face. "What?"

"You're Katy Jones, aren't you?"

Kaito's heart skipped a beat.

The "boy" sighed. "I don't need a fanboy at the moment-"

"Katy, it's me! Your best friend! Bas!"

Kaito's cheeks went from red to incredibly pale. "Katy Jones and Sebastian Underwood," he whispered with horror. His entire body was trembling. He couldn't move. He was too scared to find the strength to shoot out of his seat and run out of the room. _You're Kaito Shion now,_ he reminded himself. _They don't know you. You don't know them._

Aquarius sent a worried glance in his direction.

Once the two finally broke away from their hug, and the room settled down, introductions began. Kaito somehow managed to learn everyone's names, despite the fear clutching his heart.

And then, finally, it was his turn.

"I'm Kaito Shion," he introduced himself. He kept his voice calm. "I'm Aquarius' only chosen. I'm also from Earth."

Katy and Sebastian were staring at him. They knew it. They knew that he was lying right to their faces. They knew who he was! "That's not your real name," Katy said.

He kept silent.

"Kaito Shion is the name of your Minecraft skin. He's a Vocaloid, not an actual person," Sebastian added. "So that can't possibly be your name.

Now everyone was staring at him. Télos looked hurt, Aquarius looked hurt – God, everyone he had met looked hurt at his lie! He pulled himself out of Aquarius' grip.

Heart pounding, his feet flew across the ground as he raced out of the room.


	10. Chapter 9: Friends

**WARNING: This chapter contains a mention of suicide.**

 **Chapter 9:**

 **Friends**

 **Télos' PoV:**

Why did he have to be right?

Kaito had been hiding something: his name. Why would he possibly do that? He was trustworthy. Hero was trustworthy. Aquarius was trustworthy. Even Glistro, who had returned to the End upon teleporting them, was probably trustworthy!

 _Maybe he knew about your past._ The thought rose from the darkest parts of his heart. _Why would he ever trust a murderer?_ The air of the room suddenly felt suffocating, and he was tempted to run out of the run like Kaito just had.

"We'll go talk to him," Katy offered. Sebastian, who was apparently her best friend along with being _his_ best friend's chosen, nodded. "It was us who made him run in the first place."

"It may be dangerous. We do not know the true reason for him leaving," Hero said. "You two should not go. Someone else who has fighting experience should."

There was an awkward silence.

And then a quiet voice spoke. "Kaito wouldn't hurt someone." Aquarius spoke those four words with such conviction that it was hard to tell him otherwise. The god of water got to his feet. "He's my chosen. _I'll_ talk to him."

Aquarius left the room, leaving everyone stunned.

 **Aquarius's PoV:**

They had only been in one room before. The storage room. If Kaito had run off to any room, it would have been that one.

His feet felt as heavy as lead as he made his way down the hallways of Oracle's castle. The confidence he had shown in the living room was quickly fading – he was terrified of confronting Kaito about his lie. But someone had to do it, and Aquarius knew that he had to be the one.

He finally reached the door to the storage room. Unsurprisingly, it was locked. He lightly knocked on the door. "Go away!" Kaito yelled from inside.

"P-Please let m-me in," Aquarius begged.

There was silence for a minute. And then he heard the door unlock. Nervously, Aquarius rested his hand on the doorknob and turned it.

Kaito was as far away from the door as physically possible. He was sitting on a box, and had his back turned to Aquarius. He quickly wondered how Kaito had unlocked the door. If he had turned, he would have seen water dripping down from the doorknob.

Aquarius dragged a box over to where Kaito was. The blue-haired man kept turning his face away from him every time he tried to look. But he didn't need to – Aquarius saw the tear stains on Kaito's pants.

"What's wrong?" Aquarius asked.

"N-Nothing," Kaito replied, turning his back to Aquarius once again. "I'm perfectly fine."

"You're not," Aquarius whispered.

The blue-haired man made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sniffle. "Why do you say that?"

"I-I saw the tears on your pants."

Once Kaito realized that it was obvious he was crying, he turned to face him.

Kaito looked horrible. Tears were still streaming down his face. Both his eyes and cheeks were red, and snot was dripping out of his nose.

Aquarius fished around in his pockets for a handkerchief. Upon finding one, he handed it to Kaito. The blue-haired man blew in it several times. Knowing that there wasn't anything that Aquarius could use it for, Kaito dropped it unceremoniously onto the ground. He wiped his remaining tears with his sleeve.

"You can tell me what's wrong," Aquarius told him quietly. "Not because I'm your god…but because I'm your f-friend." He hoped that Kaito thought of him in that way. He knew that if anyone was his friend, Kaito was.

He took a deep breath. "A…friend of mine knew Katy and Sebastian," he said, not meeting Aquarius's eyes. He found the ground to be far more interesting. "Her name was-" Kaito took another deep breath to steady himself. "-Elizabeth Hardy. Everyone who she was close with called her Liz. But she wasn't really close to anyone…"

Aquarius tried to reassure Kaito by slipping his hand into the blue-haired man's. His hand was dwarfed by the size of Kaito's.

"Thanks," Kaito whispered. With the presence of Aquarius's hand in his own, he appeared to find the confidence to continue. "It happened when she was twelve…"

"What happened?" Aquarius tried to prompt Kaito to go on.

He finally looked up. "Liz threw her life away."

A gasp left Aquarius's lips. His green eyes widened at the realization of Kaito's words. _His friend committed suicide…That was why he got upset when he saw Katy and Sebastian?_ But something didn't feel right about that reason. It didn't make sense. It didn't explain why Kaito lied about his name to them, or why he seemed so afraid.

Kaito clenched his free hand. "I couldn't…I couldn't stop her…I didn't know how. I didn't know what to do…" He started to sob again. "By the time I realized all the different ways I could have saved her, she was gone. I was too late because I was too stupid to stop her! And now it's just me in the world!"

Understanding began to dawn on Aquarius. "How old would Liz be now?" he asked the weeping man quietly.

"F-fourteen," Kaito replied, crying into his scarf. "Almost fi-fifteen."

The years lined up. Two to three years ago was when he had his vision of Kaito. That was when Kaito had been brought to Minecraftia from Earth.

"Ka-Kaito, what is _your_ name?"

He cried even harder.

And that was the only confirmation he needed. "Liz wasn't your friend," he said. "Was she?"

Kaito froze.

"And she's not dead, is she?"

The blue-haired man looked up from behind his scarf. "I don't know anymore," he whispered. His blue eyes widened when Aquarius suddenly hugged him.

"I-I-I understand," Aquarius said, letting "Kaito" sob into his shoulder. "I'm hugging Liz right now."


	11. Chapter 10: Control

**WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of suicide.**

 **Chapter 10:**

 **Control**

 **Katy's PoV:**

After Aquarius left the room, its inhabitants slowly began to converse once more. Katy silently grabbed her best friend by the arm and brought him to the outskirts of the people.

"I still can't believe that we're in Minecraft," Bas admitted. He pushed aside the hair that had fallen in front of his face. It stubbornly returned. With a sigh, he tried again. "If you weren't here, I would think it's a dream."

"It's not normal Minecraft," Katy informed him. She readjusted the loincloth. "See the boy with the beanie?"

"Zalio?"

"No, Stone." He followed her gaze. "Would you believe me if I told you he was a pigman? Or that Lexal is actually two different souls in the same body?"

When Bas tried to catch a glance of the person in question, he received a glare from one of the two souls. "That's crazy," he whispered in disbelief. "How can that be possible?"

Katy couldn't offer a response. "Let's promise to only trust each other. We don't know anyone here. Who knows if they really are as good as they seem-" She stopped when she saw Télos and Hero making their way over.

"Hi, Katy!" Télos exclaimed. He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You heard earlier, but I'm Télos, god of gold and ruler of the End because democracy takes way too long to be put into place. I'm also your god."

Télos nudged Hero. "Hero, you've got to smile. You're probably scaring your chosen," he stage-whispered. "Honestly, it's a wonder we're such good friends!" the god of gold finished with an exaggerated sigh and shake of his head.

"My name is Hero. I am the god of light." He gave a tiny smile, one that could be mistaken as a twitch of his lips. "I am glad to meet you, Sebastian Underwood."

The door to the room suddenly opened.

Aquarius was the first to enter the room. He nervously poked his head in. Silence quickly fell as his chosen followed silently behind him.

When the blue-haired man raised his head, Katy noticed that his eyes were bloodshot. He quietly closed the door behind him, and the two made their way over to the couch they had been sitting on.

Aquarius squeezed his hand as if to reassure him. "I'm sorry for lying to you all…" he apologized. He fell silent, unsure how he should continue.

"Start with y-your age," Aquarius suggested.

He nodded. "I'm fourteen. I'm turning fifteen next month."

His facial expression hidden by his mask, Aquarius simply put his thumbs up. His chosen glanced around the room with anxious blue eyes.

"My real name is Elizabeth Hardy."

 **Bas' PoV:**

She had always been in his memories, ever since he was a child. His mother had been employed to the Hardy family as one of their several housekeepers. It was through this job that he met Katy and Renee. Katy was the daughter of one of the cooks, and Renee the daughter of one of the gardeners.

When he first had noticed Elizabeth Hardy, he was terrified. Her little pale face, and the way that she clutched her small teddy bear looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

Up until she turned ten – two years before the incident – she had never joined the three close friends. She would simply watch from afar with a longing that didn't belong in a child. She would always smile at them when noticed, but it never reached her eyes.

After many years, she finally tried joining them. He regretted how they didn't try to include her more. They thought that because she was the child of two rich and famous people, she would have a gigantic amount of friends from the private school she attended.

But they were so, so, so wrong. He should have noticed, he later berated himself. They were the only people that she had. When her limp and unconscious body was discovered in her bedroom, the explanation for why she had slipped into a coma was a heartbreaking one – she had attempted suicide.

And two years later, exactly one week before he had found himself in Minecraft, he had seen something even more heartbreaking. He had known that the Hardy family had gone on a trip, but hadn't realized the reason for their sudden departure. "Scandal!" the tabloids called out in big red letters. "Hardy family kills daughter!"

They had murdered her several weeks before. Money had been a strain on them, it was revealed, and the argument was that Elizabeth Hardy had wanted to die two years before.

"You're not her," Bas whispered. The blue-haired man stared at him with dull blue eyes. "You can't be. I don't know why you're lying about being her, but she's dead!"

The blue eyes widened. "But I'm right here!" came the horrified response. "I'm not dead! I can't be dead!" He looked around the room. "I swear that I'm telling the truth!" When no one answered him, he frantically began to check his pulse.

Lexal got to their feet.

 **Liz's PoV:**

She pressed her fingers up against her neck, her heart pounding so loud in her chest that she was sure Aquarius could hear it. "I'm not dead," she managed to get out. She fought back tears as she felt her pulse underneath her fingers.

"Elizabeth?"

She looked up. The person before her was not one she expected to see. She expected Télos, Katy, or possibly even Hero, but the one that stood in front of her was none other than Lexal.

"You can be dead on Earth and alive on Minecraftia."

"Why are you being so kind to me?" she couldn't help but ask. Her mind was still reeling in shock from what she had just learned. "Earlier you were swearing at anyone who tried talking to you."

He sighed. "That was Aleks. I'm Lex. We share the same body. _His_ body, to be honest," Lex quietly explained. "I'm from Earth too. I died in a car crash. That's how I know that you can be living here and not on Earth."

Tears began to spill over. She hated how much she was crying, but there was no helping it. She had nothing to return to. She was stuck on Minecraft, when returning to Earth had been her one reason for living.

But could her life on Earth have been considered living? She was little more than a hollow shell that quietly followed her parent's orders. If her mother wanted her to wear a dress, she would, despite wanting to wear a t-shirt and jeans. If her father wanted her to attend a prestigious private school, she would, despite wanting to go to Sebastian's school.

Her life on Minecraftia still controlled her. She had taken on the role of a god for the villagers because they needed one and she would feel horrible if she let them down. Yet she was in control of her life. There was no one stopping her from getting ice cream when she felt like. No one dictated her outfits and the way she acted. And two of the three people she had cared about on Earth were here with her.

She wiped her tears away with the end of her scarf.

On Earth, she was alone. On Earth, people ignored her. On Earth, no joked with her. On Earth, no one cared.

But on Minecraftia, she had a best friend who didn't hate her for her lies. But on Minecraftia, people wanted to talk to her, despite being different. And on Minecraftia, Aquarius cared about her.

To everyone's surprise, a smile spread across her face.


	12. Chapter 11: Rejection

**Disclaimer – I don't own Minecraft, Vocaloid, the Bartimaeus Sequence, or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 11:**

 **Rejection**

 **Télos' PoV:**

When Hero's newest chosen finally spoke, it was quietly. "So you really are Elizabeth Hardy?" Bas questioned. Elizabeth, staring down at her feet, simply nodded. There was a drawn out silence. "I'm sorry for not believing you…" he trailed off. Katy muttered an apology as well.

"It's alright," she said. "I mean, why would you guys? I'm supposed to be dead. And younger. And a girl." She grinned again. "I'm supposed to be a lot of things, now that I think of it."

With the reunion over with, Télos got to his feet and cleared his throat. "I think Hero and I should bring our chosen with us to our realms. That way they can see how things work, and Bas can meet Claire."

Katy and Bas exchanged glances. After a moment of hesitation, they nodded.

"I have some business I need to attend to in the End," Télos informed the assembled group. He couldn't put off talking to Glistro any longer. "So Oracle, Phoenix, Glow, and Stone, you guys should either go to Hero's base or stay here."  
"What about Aquarius and I?"

He turned to Elizabeth. The thought hadn't crossed his mind before. It wasn't like there was a place for the two to go, and Aquarius probably was just as clueless as the new chosen because of his imprisonment. "You guys can go with Hero's chosen, or come to the End with mine."

Aquarius looked up at his chosen. "You can pick," he whispered.

She glanced at the two groups. "Um…I think we'll go with Télos!" She got to her feet.

"Oracle?" Télos asked.

"I will remain here, unless my chosen want otherwise."

There were no objections.

 **Liz's PoV:**

"Télos' chosen are scary," Aquarius whispered as the group made their way to an End portal.

Her god, not having any muscles whatsoever, couldn't even drag his chest to the portal. She – though he protested – had taken it upon herself to carry it for him. She adjusted the chest to make it easier to carry. "Aleks certainly is. But Lex seems okay, and don't worry about Katy. She can be antisocial when not with her friends, but she's not a bad person."

He gave a hesitant nod.

 _I hoped she hasn't changed. It's been an entire two years…and I don't remember her being this quiet either._ She tried to ignore the thought. _Maybe she's just upset because Renée isn't here. Renée_ was incredibly close to Katy. For as long as she had known the two, they had both been attached at the hip.

* * *

Télos left the group in one of the many rooms of the gigantic End palace before running off. This one was a training room, and the adjoining room was the armory. The sheer size of the building, and the room itself, blew her mind. Liz had never seen something like that before.

They all glanced at various inanimate objects, silence filling the room. "This is awkward," she blurted out. Her face turned red in embarrassment when their gaze turned to her.

"It is," Katy agreed. She fell silent once more.

Lexal nodded. "Since Aleks and I have been here for two years, we'll answer any of your questions." Their demeanor changed. "Then we can fucking teach Katy to use a fucking sword." Another switch of personality. "We're guessing that you two are both experienced with swords."

Liz smiled. "I've been using them for two years. I'm a pro by now." She glanced at her god. He was staring down at the ground, his expression hidden behind his mask. "What's wrong?"

"I've never used a sword," Aquarius hesitantly admitted. "…Or even held one…"

Her smile grew. "Then I'll teach you, Aquarius! You'll be a natural!" When he looked up and nodded, her attention returned to her impromptu teachers. "Can I ask a question?"

Lexal nodded.

"Why are there two souls in one body?"

They gestured for Katy, Aquarius, and Liz to sit down on the crates containing training supplies. The three quickly complied. Lexal, dragging one so it was across from the group, followed suit.

"The bastard got killed in a car crash. So his fucking soul went to the closest thing he had to a fucking body – my body." Lexal paused and took in their confusion. "Aquarius most likely knows this, but skeletons, zombies, and wither skeletons are something called shells. Shells can be created when a player dies in Minecraft. If you die in the Overworld, your avatar can become a skeleton or zombie, and if you die in the Nether, your shell will be a wither skeleton. Have you noticed anything about our skin color?" Lexal gestured at their face.

"It's gray," Aquarius commented.

They nodded. "Exactly."

"That's the color of a wither skeleton," Katy realized, "but you two look human."

"The bastard forced me to take a fucking humanizing potion-Hey! You agreed to it, remember?! That's why you get to pick how what we wear! You were fucking in control then! It wasn't like I could fucking object to it, you bastard! You would have still gone and fucking taken it even if I said no!"

The rest of the question and answer session passed without incident.

 **Lex's PoV:**

The soreness was becoming pain all over, but he didn't tell Aleks. There was nothing the other soul could do about it. Trying to take his mind off his pain, he glanced around the room for a sword Katy could use. There was one conveniently nearby – a simple iron broadsword. Upon following his gaze, Katy went and retrieved it.

There was a sting in his heart. Unprepared for the sudden increase in pain, he clutched their chest. "Lexal?" Liz questioned. He offered her, and the two others, a forced smile.

"I'm fine," he lied.

 _What's wrong, bastard?_

 _Nothing._

 _You don't fucking grab your chest because it's fucking nothing._

 _Aleks, I'm alright-_ He had to prevent himself from screaming out in pain. "Liz, Aquarius, why don't you two check out the armory? Aquarius is going to need a sword."

She hesitated. "Alright," she agreed. "Let's go, Aquarius."

The two entered the armory through the door connecting the two rooms, leaving it ajar.

"What do I need to know first?" Katy asked once they were gone.

"You need to-" Their eyes widened in pain. If Aleks wasn't also controlling their body, his legs would have given out. Their breathing became heavier, and he struggled to not scream out in pain.

 _Bastard! What the Nether is wrong?!_

The pain became unbearable. A scream left their lips.

 _LEX!_

Then suddenly, he oddly felt nothing.

 **A/N Hey there, wonderful Souls~ From now on, my author's notes are going to be at the end of the chapter. That way, you can focus on the story. :D Well, I have some announcements for you, so please don't close this window! (If you do, Levi will hunt you down and throw tomatoes at your face. Trust me when I say it's not fun.)**

 **My first announcement is that I'm no longer doing questions and dares. Please put down your various weapons, angry readers, and wait for what will be replacing them.**

 **My second announcement is that I am the now the owner of several Tumblr accounts. Because of this, I thought it would be wise to list my various accounts related to this one.**

 **Quotev: TheHopefulSoul**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-geist-of-germany, ask-telos-of-minecraftia**

 **Geist and Télos' Ask/RP blogs will be replacing the questions and dares. In the future, after certain events, I will most likely make one for one lucky character in _The Reborn_ _King_ (please leave your guesses as to who that character is in the reviews). You can do things called m!a (which are short for magical asks), normal asks, and dares. Since I can't draw to save my life, I will be doing everything with writing, rather than pictures. **


	13. Chapter 12: Restart

**Disclaimer – I do not own Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy's, The Bartimaeus Sequence, or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ Shout out to Jayfeather Cubed for getting me to create a god of ice. :D**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 12:**

 **Restart**

 **Renee's PoV:**

The feeling of something cold hitting her body was what woke her. She slowly opened her eyes; that cold something proved to be snow. Confusion was the only thing on her mind. How had she gotten here? Why had she hurt so much before going unconscious? And why did her body not feel like her own?

With groggy eyes, she looked herself over. She was dressed in a dark blue uniform. The only belonging she had was a flashlight attached to her belt. Her hair was shorter than it had been before; cut into a bob. It was black and was white at its tips.

Memories came flooding back to her. She knew this body she was somehow in. It was a real life version of her Minecraft skin. She didn't know how that was possible, but it was the only explanation. "Hello?" she hesitantly called out as she got to her feet. Her voice was slightly more mature, and just a tad deeper.

Suddenly, she wasn't alone. A pair of icy blue eyes watched her from behind a mask. It was a simple mask, its only adornment being a black smile stretching from cheek to cheek. Its owner had hair as white as snow. The hair was short and spiky, as if the person before her had stuck their fingers into a socket.

She quickly decided the person who had almost magically appeared before her was male.

He was her new body's height. She guessed that he was cold, since he was dressed in only a white tunic with a light blue trim, black leggings, and a pair of sandals.

She knew most people would scream, but she found herself entranced.

"Hello," he said. From his voice, he seemed to be in his late teens to early twenties. "Do you like your new body?"

"I would like it better if I knew why I was in it."

He laughed. "That doesn't surprise me."

She put her hands on her hips. "That's a hint, you know. You're supposed to tell me what the hell is going on." She had always been good at glaring, and she used that skill to her advantage.

Yet it didn't appear to faze him. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?" he said. She hardened her glare. In response, he held his hands up. "I'll tell you. But let's start with names first. I'll tell you mine, you tell me yours." He put a hand over his chest. "My name's Zephyrus."

"Renée Piper."

"Pretty name," he commented.

She shifted her weight onto her other foot and crossed her arms. "Giving me a compliment isn't going to get you points in my book."

He shrugged. "It was worth a shot." After clearing his throat, he continued. "To put things simply, Renée, I'm the god of ice and you're my chosen. You get my powers, and we can speak telepathically to one another."

She stared at him in disbelief. "You expect me to believe that?"

A second after she said that, ice shot out of his hand and took on the form of a sickle and chain. Her eyes widened in shock. _Now do you believe me?_ His lips hadn't moved, but she had heard Zephyrus' voice. The only way that was possible was that it was a telepathic message.

"Yes," she replied. "I do believe you." Suddenly, he grabbed her by the chest and pulled her close. "Hey!" she protested. She struggled, but his grip was too strong.

"Hold on tight. You don't want me to drop you, right?"

She glowered at him. To her surprise, a pair of wings sprouted from his back. They were clear and sparkled in the sunlight; they were sculpted out of ice. He pushed off the ground. A second later, they were ascending towards the clouds. Terrified, she threw her arms around him.

The corners of his eyes turned up. She guessed he was smiling at her fear. The minute they landed, she would punch the living daylights out of him. "Isn't the view beautiful?" he asked.

"No!" she quickly replied.

He tightened his grip. "You'll get used to it."

They finally landed on a gigantic platform. Sitting on top of it was a building constructed only out of quartz. It was beautiful. Once they were a good ten feet away from the edge, he let her down. "This is my home-"

"Who's this?" The voice that spoke was male. Its owner was a strange cross between a human and what she guessed to be enderman.

Zephyrus put his arm around her shoulder. She almost protested, but then his grip tightened. She quickly realized the truth – her god was terrified of the thing before them. "This is my chosen, Janos." He turned to her. "Renée, this is Janos, god of destruction. Janos, this is Renée Piper."

She gave a nod to acknowledge him.

Janos didn't bother to hide his disgust. Ignoring Renée, he informed Zephyrus, "Air Ass and that human want to talk to you about the weapon." He started to walk towards the edge of the platform, but then he paused. The god of destruction looked over his shoulder at the other god. "Oh, and there's been a change in Project Gemini."

Icy blue eyes widened as a pair of dark angelic wings opened. Janos dove off the edge. Letting go of Renée, her god ran towards the other god. "What do you mean? Janos, what happened to him?! What did they do to him?!"

When Janos answered, he was too far away to make out clearly. "They didn't do anything to him, fool. Someone rescued him."

Zephyrus' eyes were strangely wet when he returned to Renée.

 **Aleks' PoV:**

He stumbled. Their body suddenly felt very odd; as if a crucial part of it was missing… _Hey, bastard. What the Nether just happened?_

There was a disturbing silence.

 _This isn't fucking funny. What just fucking happened?!_

There was still no response. Eyes widening at the realization, he frantically glanced around. He wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for. He wanted to deny what had to be the truth.

Lex was gone.

"What's wrong?" Katy asked. Her question was impossible to answer; how could he explain something he didn't understand? He waited several more seconds for a response. When none came, his heart sank.

"The bastard's gone," he finally said. What had happened? And why? Why did he always have to lose the ones he grew close to? Before Katy could say anything to him, he heard screaming coming from the weapons' room. Both of the screams were male, one belonging to an adult and the other a young teenager. Télos' two chosen exchanged glances.

"That was Liz and Aquarius," Katy realized. Withdrawing his sword, Aleks rushed towards the open door. He stumbled as he ran. It was strange not sharing his body with Lex's soul. If he had the time, he would be mourning the loss of Lex. But there was other things to be dealt with. Liz and Aquarius were in trouble, and he wasn't going to lose anyone else – even if he barely knew them.

 **A/N Hey there, all you wonderful Souls! No big news for this chapter. I just wanted to restate all of my accounts, and go into a little more detail about them to get you to check them out (if you haven't already).**

 **Quotev: TheHopefulSoul**

 **If you've always wondered which god's chosen you would be, you can check out my one quiz. Zephyrus, Janos, Aquarius, and Eras haven't been added yet, but I will add them soon. However, it does have all of the gods from _A Hero's Destiny._**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **I have the occasional picture of a character up, but for now I have a little behind the scenes type of thing for my various fanfictions, some traditional art of Aquarius and Télos, and one Bartimaeus Sequence fanart.**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany**

 **soulerrorarwitch is my main blog. I usually reblog fandom-related posts (typically about Bartimaeus). But I do have some content of my own, such as my art, a headcanon about the mechanics of the Other Place, and a theory about Bartimaeus' form on the seventh plane.**

 **The other two, as mentioned last chapter, are ask and roleplay blogs.**

 **Well, have a great day/night! See you in Chapter 13~**


	14. Chapter 13: Ghosts of the Past

**Disclaimer – I do not own Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy's, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, The Bartimaeus Sequence, or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 13:**

 **Ghosts of the Past**

 **Liz's PoV:**

Though she knew the best way to protect Aquarius would be to use her sword, her instinctive reaction was to hold him close. It put her in the possible way of harm. Still, she felt as if he would be far safer in her arms than out in the open.

Lexal kicked the door open. Relief filled her as Télos' chosen entered the room, each armed with a sword. The more experienced of the two would be able to protect her and Aquarius; despite meeting them only hours ago, she knew she could trust them with her life.

"What happened?" Katy questioned.

Aquarius simply whimpered and tightened his grip around her. Trying to ignore the blush spreading across her face at how close they were, she pointed at the bare armor stand across from them. She tried to keep her hand from shaking, but she couldn't help it. The sight she had seen terrified her. If she didn't have to worry about frightening Aquarius even more, she would be having a similar reaction to his.

But she had to be strong for him.

"That's just a fucking armor stand," Lexal said.

Another whimper left Aquarius' lips. In response, she explained, "It's not. We both saw it move."

Katy tried to offer them a reassuring smile. It failed to help the situation. Liz knew what she had seen – the armor stand had suddenly started jerking from side to side. "You must have been imagining things."

"We weren't-" she began to protest, but then she heard the sound of a sword hitting the ground. She turned to see both Lexal and Katy gaping at the armor stand. Her movements were slow and hesitant as she turned around to once again face the armor stand.

The armor stand had leaned down and was in the process of trying to pull itself off of its stone platform.

Lexal scrambled to pick up their sword. Once they did so, the armor stand paused in its efforts. It straightened, and if it had a face, the target of its wooden gaze would be the former wither skeleton. They had, in an amazingly short period of time, pointed the type of the iron blade at it.

Then the armor stand went completely still.

The sound of footsteps reached her ears. Liz turned to the group behind her; which one of them was moving? But to her shock and horror, all were exactly where they had been before. All were standing, but for some reason she could hear someone racing out into the hallway. She glanced at the door just in time to see it be flung open.

But no one was there.

She couldn't speak. She was too terrified by what had just gone on – she knew that, somehow, Aquarius and her had narrowly escaped a ghost. Aquarius was trembling in her arms, and she knew she was doing no better.

"We have to find that spirit," Katy suddenly spoke up, her voice shaking as she did so. "Aleks, can you find Télos and inform him about what's going on? Bring the armor stand with you."

With a mutter involving several swears, Lexal returned their sword to its sheath, stormed over to the armor stand, and threw it over their shoulder before exiting the room.  
Liz finally found the strength to speak. "Wh-What about us?"

Katy gave a grim smile. "We're going ghost hunting."

She and her god exchanged looks of horror.

 **Glistro's PoV:**

Upon her return to the End, she had visited the graves of her fellow soldiers.

She had been the sole survivor among the friends she had made, and, since they were all orphans, she was the one who cared for them after they died. They had no else to tend their graves, or to bring them fresh flowers. That responsibility fell on her shoulders.

Today she had brought blue orchids from the Overworld. She made sure to never leave the same type of flower at their graves for two days in a row. The roses from the day before were still on their graves; she would have to clean those up after giving them new ones.

She gently placed an orchid down in front of Cather's grave.

They would hate her if they saw her now. An empty shell of what had once been a great warrior, she had assisted their formerly heartless leader with what had, going into it, seemed to be a suicide mission.

An orchid was laid in front of Bellun's grave.

She knew her reasoning for her actions. She had nothing else to live for. All she did now was tend to their graves, reminiscing on times long ago.

Silv was the final one of her friends; she placed his down with especially gentle care.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a scuffed pair of sneakers. Her gaze traveled up to see the god she had once hated with a burning passion.

He was staring at their graves, muttering something underneath his breath. She listened carefully to what he was saying. To her surprise, it sounded as if he was apologizing. "I'm sorry," he continued to say, inserting the names on the graves as his gaze traveled over them.

She straightened. When he noticed her, the apologizes ceased. "Hi, Glistro!" he cheerfully said. Only this time, she realized, the smile didn't quite reach his golden eyes.

She didn't offer a greeting in return.

His tone turned serious. "You're the one who leaves the flowers at their graves?" he questioned.

A nod. He didn't deserve more than that.

"I was wondering who had been doing that. I come here every day..." He looked uncomfortable; she wasn't surprised. After all, he was the reason they had all died. But why did he always visit the graveyard? She had heard that he was possessed back then, something she found hard to believe, but that still didn't explain why he felt it was important to repeatedly visit the graveyard that housed the dead endermen.

He was a god. He wasn't supposed to care.

"I need to talk to you about something," he said.

She finally looked away from their graves. "Do it, then."  
He took a deep breath, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "First off, I'm sorry." The words took her by surprise. She wasn't able to form a response before he continued. "And I know those two words will never cut it. I'm the one who killed them, and I don't expect you to deny it. If I hadn't been so heartless and cruel, chances are your friends would still be alive. So I understand if you hate me, and if you don't want to listen to what I have to say."  
After a moment of silence, she nodded for him to continue. What else did she have to do? Visiting the graves was the only thing she routinely did for the past two years.

"Gods have chosen ones. We don't pick them. Fate has a habit of making us meet. Lexal and a girl named Katy are mine." He hesitated. "At least, that's what everyone thinks."

She stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and horror, realizing what he was trying to get at. "I'm your chosen, aren't I?"

He nodded. "You are. Only you and I know this; if you want, I won't tell anyone. You can go about your life and pretend this conversation never happened."

There was something about the offer of change, the offer of something different that piqued her curiosity. And though she knew her friends would be turning in their graves at the mere thought of her talking to him, she asked, "What would happen if I wanted to be your chosen?"  
He seemed taken aback by the question. "You would become better acquainted with the other gods and their chosen. If something ever tries to harm Minecraftia or the mobs that reside on it, you would help fight."

She glanced at Cather, Bellun, and Silv's graves. What would they want her to do? Then realization struck her, and she understood something that had been right in front of her face. Though she would always hold them close to her, and treasure the times they spent together, they no longer controlled her actions.

"I want to be your chosen."

 **A/N Hey there, my wonderful Souls~ I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please leave a review. They really make my day, and I always have fun reading them.**

 **As you've probably noticed, I've returned to my old username. Though it was fun being TheHopefulSoul, SoulErrorArwitch is just who I guess I'm meant to be!**

 **I'd like to make a request of you all. If you are in need of a fanfiction to read, and you really want to make someone happy, please check out Raiden the OC's stories. He's a really awesome person and comes up with really cool fanfictions!**

 **Because of my name change on here and on other sites, and because I just wanted to remind you of their existence so you can check them out if they interest you or if you're bored, here are my other accounts!**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany**

 **Remember, you now have the ability to bombard Télos with questions and M!As, which is a very magical ability that you should definitely put to use.**

 **See you in Chapter 14~**


	15. Chapter 14: Lost

**Disclaimer – I do not own Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy's, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, The Bartimaeus Sequence, or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 14:**

 **Lost**

 **Télos' PoV:**

He was in disbelief that he had happened to meet Glistro at the graveyard, but was in even more disbelief when she agreed to being his chosen. If Lexal hadn't come running into the graveyard with an armor stand in tow, he wasn't sure what he would have said next.

He knew immediately something was wrong. He had always been good at telling who was in control from the body language his chosen showed; right now, he was seeing Aleks.

And when his chosen talked, it was Aleks' voice that did the explaining. There was a worryingly lack of Alexander Bailey, and as Télos leaned close to the armor stand to inspect it, he whispered to Aleks, "What happened to Lex?"

His chosen hesitated. "The bastard's gone," was the reply. "He's fucking gone." He didn't elaborate as to why. Télos wanted to pester him for details – something had happened to one of his closest friends – but he realized Aleks didn't want to talk about it. It wasn't because he didn't care, or because they had other things to focus on.

It was because, though he would never say it, he cared for Lex. The loss of the other soul was hitting him hard, and Télos wasn't sure what would happen to Aleks if he tried getting information out of him. Aleks had lost both his family and his friends; the loss of the person who was like a brother to him might be his tipping point.

He stood back up. "It looks like a normal armor stand," Télos commented. Suddenly, an enderman came running over to them, shouting as loud as he could.

"Télos! There's something strange going on in the palace!"

The tone to the mob's voice was a terrified one. Télos prepared to form his sword, waiting to hear what the enderman had to say before he did so the mob wouldn't come to the conclusion that he was going to harm it. "What do you mean?"  
He skid to a halt, taking in large gulps of air before he spoke again. "There's a skeleton," he managed to get out.

The god of gold thought for a second. "Well, maybe it's one of Stesa's friends-"

"Besides the fact that Hero's chosen are Stesa's only friends, Télos, this is an actual skeleton of a deceased enderwoman! And it's running away from anyone who comes near it!"

Aleks and Télos exchanged glances. Both knew what that meant, and both were prepared to face the ghost. Télos' attention to Glistro, and he gave her a forced grin."Have you ever wanted to be a ghost hunter?"

 **Liz's PoV:**

She had gotten lost.

Her shoe, at the worst of times, had become untied. She had told Katy and Aquarius to go on, her god protesting about not wanting to leave her alone, and that she would catch up once she was done. The two finally gave in.

But by the time she had finished tying her shoe, she had come to the horrifying conclusion that she had no idea which direction they had gone. And her stone sword (not that it could do much against a ghost) was lying on the floor in the armory.

"Aquarius?" she called out. "Katy?" When there was no response, she looked around desperately for some sort of clue. She could barely face a ghost with them by her side, much less without them!

A figure, clad in a large dark cloak, darted down the hallway she was in. They were the size of an enderman, but the only visible part of them were the bones in the place of scale-covered enderman feet. A startled cry escaped them as they tripped over the hem of the cloak and tackled her to the ground.

Liz, getting her bearings, sat back up. The hood that had been disguising their face was knocked back in the process, and they rushed to get to their feet.

She was staring up at a skeleton. Not a Minecraft skeleton, but the deceased type of skeleton. And in the eye sockets of the skeleton were two glowing orbs; eyes peering out from the afterlife. "G-ghost!" she screamed. She knew it wasn't wise to show a ghost your fear; horror movies had taught her that. "Please don't kill me!" If aforementioned horror movies were anything to go by, that didn't do anything. But it was the only thing she could do.

"Um...yeah. I'm a ghost. Boo. I'm so spooky?" The voice that echoed throughout the hallways was feminine, and Liz was terrified when she realized it was the voice of someone long dead. "And you better run…er…mortal man, or I'll…I'll…kill you and then…force you to be my servant for the rest of eternity!"

The sound of footsteps reached her ears. She turned, hoping to see Katy and Aquarius. Though it wasn't the two of them, she found herself looking at Télos, Lexal, and Glistro.

She rushed over to them. "I found a ghost!" she managed to get out, gesturing wildly at the skeleton standing in the center of the hallway.

"G-g-ghost?" The one who had spoken, surprisingly, was Télos. He was using Lexal as a makeshift shield, eyes wide and skin pale. "I d-don't w-want to d-die!"

Glistro looked at him in disbelief.

"I should have fucking expected this," Lexal muttered.

"What do you mean?" Glistro asked; she seemed unfazed by the turn of events.

"Glow pulled a prank on him. Turns out this bastard is terrifying of fucking ghosts."  
Télos peeked up from behind them. If Liz wasn't just as terrified, she would find the sight to be a comical one. "It-It's a l-legit f-fear!"

With a groan and a roll of their eyes, Lexal stormed over to the ghost. Who, strangely enough, hadn't moved or spoken at all. She simply stared at him with the unnatural pinpricks of light. "Who the Nether are you?"

"A ghost?" she weakly replied after a moment of hesitation, cowering away from them.

"That's _what_ you fucking are, not _who_ you fucking are! Who the Nether are you?!" they demanded. Lexal took a menacing step towards the ghost. Liz wanted to scream out, tell them to stop. Angering a ghost was foolish! Did they want to get themselves killed?!

"I'm…uh…um…Just come with me, Aleks!" Before a word of protest could even be uttered, she grabbed them by the wrist and effortlessly dragged the startled former wither skeleton down the hallway and out of the palace.

Télos and Liz exchanged terrified glances; even Glistro, who barely knew them, seemed worried by what had just happened.

Because all of them knew nothing good could happen as a result of a ghost taking someone.

 **A/N Hey there, my wonderful Souls~ I'm hoping that you're all on the edges of your seats right now. Although, I have to admit something. Out of all the characters in this fanfiction, Aleks is the one I would least worry about in a dangerous situation. But maybe that's just how I see it. If you see it differently, or just want to tell me your thoughts on the chapter, please leave that in a review!**

 **Once again, I just wanted to remind you of their existence so you can check them out if they interest you or if you're bored. So here's my other accounts!**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany**

 **Like I said last chapter, you have been given the power of messing with Télos. Don't waste that ability by staring at this chapter. Go and give him some asks!**

 **See you in Chapter 15, which I'm currently working on~**


	16. Chapter 15: Unfortunate Surprises

**Disclaimer – I do not own Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy's, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, The Bartimaeus Sequence, or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 15:**

 **Unfortunate Surprises**

 **Aleks' PoV:**

He had been too shocked by her grabbing him to initially resist her as she dragged him through the palace doors, and by the time the action had fully sunk in, her grip was too strong from him to break free. "Let me fucking go!" he exclaimed, once again attempting to jerk his wrist out of her grip. It was a painful and fruitless attempt.

He glanced around in search of help. His eyes settled on Katy and Aquarius, who were making their way across the End as they tried to return to the palace. They came closer and closer to the ghost and him; he waited for them to get close enough to hear him yell. Though he didn't want to rely on their assistance, he had no other choice in this situation.

But the chance never came. The ghost, spotting the approaching figures, flung the door to an old End tower and shoved him inside. She rushed in several seconds later. After slamming the door shut, she quickly barricaded it with furniture. The only piece of furniture left unmoved was an old wooden chair.

Sitting on top of the pile of furniture blocking the door, she gestured for him to sit down. He quickly realized he had no other option and did so. He couldn't kill the ghost if she tried to harm him.

"I need your help."

His reply was immediate. "Like I'm going to fucking help you after you fucking kidnapped me!"

"I had to!" A sigh filled the tower. "Aleks, if you help me, I'll help you."

He crossed his arms. "Fucking amuse me."

Mirroring him, she did the same. "I'll help you be reunited with Lex."

The offer took him by surprise; he wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but it wasn't that. "And if I don't take you up on your fucking deal?" he asked, leaning back in the chair. He balanced the chair on its back legs and gave her his classic glare.

"Then you won't ever be seeing him again because you're a selfish jerk who won't help someone in need unless it benefits him!"

Realization struck him hard. So hard that he lost his balance and the chair toppled to the ground. So hard that he lay there, stunned, for several seconds as the words sunk in. So hard that the only thing he could do when he got to his feet was stare because he had finally figured out who was moving the skeleton before him, and who had been the culprit behind the armor stand's possession.

His eyes widened. And then, a couple of moments later, he slugged the skeleton in the face. "You could have just fucking said it was you, you bastard!" he exclaimed as Alexander Bailey struggled to get up.

"What the heck was that for?! You almost knocked my head off!" A pause as the words he had yelled registered. "You realized it was me?!"

"Well, of course I fucking would!" he indignantly replied. "The minute you go fucking missing, the armor stand began to move! Besides the fact that you just fucking said you could give me Lex, proves it! How else would you know he's fucking gone if you weren't him?!"

He took a deep breath. Though he was giving the other soul the most piercing glare he could muster, relief flooded him in waves. Lex was alright. He hadn't lost him too. The thought that he was alone once again terrified him; if Lex hadn't been alright, he wasn't sure what he would have done.

"I'm sorry," Lex apologized, rubbing the skull with a skeletal hand. Aleks found this situation to be an odd one. He knew it was Lex who was talking to him, but, at the same time, the voice didn't belong to the other soul. "I didn't think you would realize it was me. I didn't think anyone would, so I brought you here and asked for your help because you were the only I thought could help."

"With what?" Aleks asked slowly.

Lex's voice was quiet, embarrassed. "I'm stuck."

"Stuck? What the Nether do you mean?"

He pointed at the skeleton. "My soul is stuck in here. I got out of the armor stand as a fluke, but then I ran into this when I was trying to hide in the dungeons and now I don't know how to leave it." He paused and looked away. If he had skin, Aleks was sure it would be bright red. "I mean, at least I have a voice...I didn't have one with the armor stand, and I couldn't walk either."

He finally asked the question he had been wondering the entire time. "What fucking happened to you, bastard?"

Lex thought for a moment. "I think my soul got ejected from your body," he guessed. "Bodies were meant for one soul, not two. So it kicking out the one that shouldn't have been there."

"Yours."

He nodded. "Mine." Lex hopped off the pile of furniture and walked over to Aleks. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to go back into your body."

"Why would I fucking want that?" was the immediate response. But when Lex stared at him with the unnerving balls of light in the skeleton's eyes sockets, he added, "It does feel fucking weird without you, bastard. So I guess I'll fucking help."

 **Lex's PoV:**

 _Thank God,_ he thought as the words registered. He wasn't sure what he would have done if Aleks hadn't offered to help. Maybe he would have cried. Then he realized he couldn't have done that even if he had wanted to. He wasn't the type of a skeleton that roamed the Overworld. He was in someone's dead body, using their voice. That was an incredibly creepy thought, one that would have sent shivers racing up and down his spine if he actually had skin covering said spine.

Then again, the past hour or so had given him that same feeling. Getting ejected out of Aleks' body and getting sent straight into the armor stand was bad enough; he had wanted to scream when he saw wooden sticks instead of hands, but couldn't because armor stands don't have voices. The memory of rushing through the halls of Télos' palace in confusion still terrified him. And when he had gone to hide in the dungeon until he could figure things out...He shuddered. That had to be scariest part of the experience.

He had started screaming when he realized he was made of bones, the scream growing both louder and longer when he heard the scream leaving him.

"Bastard," Aleks suddenly said. Lex turned his attention back to the present. "What happened when you fucking left the armor stand?"

He thought for a moment. "You had pointed your sword at me," he finally replied. "I was worried you were going to harm me, but I couldn't tell you who I was to prevent you from doing so..." Then he quietly admitted, "That was what's terrified me the most."

"So fear could be the reason, bastard?"

Lex nodded. "I guess so. But how are we going to replicate that level of it? You know it's me, and if you pointed your sword at me, I would know why."

Aleks crossed his arms. He seemed lost in thought; he turned his back to Lex and began to pace back and forth across the room. "I'm not fucking sure," he replied, keeping his face hidden from Lex.

Why was he doing that? Was it because he didn't want Lex to guess what he thinking about? That was most likely the case. After two years of being in the same body, Lex found it incredibly easy to read Aleks' emotions just from the look on his face.

Aleks turning away from him was definitely something to worry about. What if he wasn't showing his face because he didn't want Lex to see that he had no idea and that he thought it was a lost cause?

Suddenly, Lex began to make out a form that was towering over the former wither skeleton. Aleks seemed oblivious to it; he continued to pace around the room.

A menacing being of darkness left the shadows. Its limbs long and lanky, it was leaning down to avoid hitting the ceiling. It had no facial features. Tendrils of darkness licked the air around it.

If Lex had eyes, he knew they would be wide in terror. "Aleks!" he yelled.

He turned his gaze to other soul. "What do you fucking want, bastard? I'm thinking-"

"Aleks, look behind you!" he desperately shouted as the thing came closer and closer. Two large hands grabbed Aleks from behind. In response, a startled cry left his lips and his eyes widened in the same fear Lex was feeling.

An evil smile appeared on the monster's face as darkness began to envelop its struggling captive. Lex was too horrified to move, only able to watch as only Aleks' legs were left untouched by the darkness. He wanted to do something – do anything – but he couldn't. He was helpless.

Aleks' legs suddenly stopped kicking. They went eerily still, and a second later, the one who Lex considered his closest friend fell to the floor.

And he didn't move.

 **A/N Hey there, all of my wonderful Souls~**

 **I can see the headlines now. They'll be something about a fanfiction writer getting murdered by her angry and upset readers as a result of the ending of this chapter (I'm looking at you two, Raiden the OC and The scribe of the 4th brother).**

 **Well, I mean, at least this time I uploaded a new chapter relatively fast!  
**

 **Like usual, here are the other accounts.**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany**

 **Remember something important. You. Can. Mess. With Télos. Please stop by and leave him asks. If you don't have a Tumblr, send me your ask via PM or review and I'll ask him for you!**

 **See you in Chapter 16, which I'm currently working on~**


	17. Chapter 16: Explanations

**Disclaimer – I do not own Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy's, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, The Bartimaeus Sequence, or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 16:**

 **Explanations**

 **Lex's PoV:**

For the first couple of seconds, all he could do was stare at Aleks' unmoving body. He had to be imagining it. Aleks couldn't be dead; there was no way that he could have died! He was strong, powerful, and an expert when it came to fighting. He wouldn't have been taken by surprise. He would have heard the monster coming, and, with it caught off guard, he would have attacked it.

But then numbing realization came setting in. He wasn't imagining it. Aleks was laying unmoving on the ground before him, killed by the monster. "Aleks!" he cried out. All thoughts of protecting himself were promptly forgotten as he ran to the former wither skeleton's side. Something hit the ground behind him, but his mind was focused on other things. He didn't glance back. Instead, he grabbed the sword out of Aleks' sheath and pointed it at the monster.

It made a beeline for the door. The monster skid to a halt in front of the pile of furniture, turning around as Lex advanced towards it. It was a difficult task. The sword which had been easy to lift in Aleks' body was surprisingly heavy.

"G-gh-ghost!" it exclaimed in an all too familiar voice.

Lex glanced back at the unmoving body. Dragging the sword behind him – which resulted in the monster whimpering – he returned to Aleks' side and looked at him closely.

His chest, though it was impossible to notice when glancing at him quickly, was rising and falling.

He glanced down at himself.

He was transparent, and the body that greeted his eyes was the body he had inhabited before the car accident. The thing he had heard fall to the ground a minute before had been the skeleton he had possessed; a glance over his shoulder proved that.

He placed his hand on Aleks' chest. _I hope this works._ Then he

pushed down.

Aleks' body convulsed. The monster gave a muffled scream. And Lex found himself once again in Aleks' body, the other soul silent.

He guessed Aleks was so quiet because he was still unconscious. Sitting their body up, he looked around the room. The monster was still cowering by the door, covering where its eyes would be with its hands.

The temptation was far too great. He stood up and silently walked over to it. He leaned close. Cupping their hands around their mouth, he simply said, "Boo."

The monster jumped in surprise, hitting its head on the ceiling. Lex found the sight to be a very satisfying one, and had to stifle a laugh as another whimper left it.

Suddenly, he heard a voice speak up. _Why am I fucking standing?_

 _Because your idea worked,_ Lex replied.

There was a moment of hesitation. _L-Bastard?!_

 _In the flesh. Um, your flesh, I guess._ He paused. _What exactly was your plan, anyways?_

There was a certain smugness to Aleks' voice when he replied. He was proud of the plan he had created, and even prouder of the fact that it had been successful. _To fucking scare the living daylights out of you. I telepathically messaged Télos and explained the situation, since I remembered he was with an enderwoman. She teleported him here before teleporting away so you wouldn't fucking notice her. The plan was for Télos to choose a terrifying form. If you weren't scared by his sudden appearance, bastard, then he was supposed to pretend to fucking kill me._

Lex thought for a second. _You did a pretty good job of acting terrified, Aleks._ There was a rather interesting silence. Gray eyes widened in realization, and a laugh escaped their lips. _You weren't acting, were you? Télos actually terrified you!_

 _Shut the fucking Nether up, you bastard!_ Though their face was getting red from Aleks' embarrassment, Lex kept laughing. He would have never thought that the other soul would be scared by something he had helped to plan.

Télos hesitated before removing his hands from where his eyes would be. The shadows condensed into a smaller form, and a pair of golden eyes peered out at them. "Are you alright?" he nervously questioned.

Lex finally stopped laughing. "Yeah."

The god of gold's gaze traveled to the pile of bones to back at them. "Is Lex back?"

"I'm the one you're talking to, Télos," he replied with a grin.

The shadows melted away to reveal his normal form. "Why is Aleks so silent?" he asked, starting to push the furniture away from the door so they could get out. His voice took on a worried tone. "Is he gone too?"

Lex shook their head as he moved a small wooden table. "He's just mortified about how he actually can get scared. That's all."

Télos froze. "He was scared?" he slowly said.

A nod.

The god of gold and the former player exchanged looks.

And then they both burst out into laughter.

"I can't believe he got scared!" Télos exclaimed. He was clutching his stomach from laughing so hard; it seemed that he was in actual pain, but he didn't appear to care.

"That's what I was thinkin-"

"Shut the fucking Nether up!" Aleks interrupted. "You were scared too, you bastard! And I just saw your memories! Télos thought you were a ghost even though I had fucking explained everything to him!"

Télos and Lex both fell silent.

 **Renée's PoV:**

As they walked down the hallways to the room she would be staying in, she finally asked the question that had been bugging her since the conversation with Janos. "What did Janos mean when he said those two people wanted to talk to you about a weapon? And who were the people he mentioned?"

"Minecraftia isn't as peaceful as you think it would be," Zephyrus darkly replied. "Some individuals want to take it over, which is why the weapon is needed." Then his tone dramatically shifted to a cheery, bubbly one; she noted that it seemed almost forced. "Air Ass is what Janos prefers to call Eras, the god of air. Tom is her chosen." He was about to continue speaking, but she cut him off.

"You said god and used a female pronoun for Eras," she pointed out.

Understanding flickered across his icy blue eyes. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "I forgot. Tom had told me that you would probably be confused by that. You use the word goddess on your world for female gods, right?" She nodded. "Here on Minecraftia, Renée we use the same word for all of the gods."  
They stopped in front of a room. Zephyrus opened the door and gestured for her to enter. It only contained a bed, chest, simple desk, and nightstand, its walls painted white with blue snowflakes. "I'm sorry for how basic it is, but we didn't know your preferences," the god of ice apologized.

"It's alright," she said. She sat down on the bed. It was surprisingly comfortable, something she was grateful for.

He seemed relieved by her comment. "You interrupted me before I could finish speaking earlier, so let me continue where I left off." Her god sat down at the desk, sitting so he was resting his arms on the back of it and facing her. "Eras and Tom are my parents."

She couldn't contain her shock. "And Tom's a human?"

He nodded. "Yes, he is. Something that constantly irritates Janos."

"So you're a demigod? And not a full god?"

He thought for a minute, rocking the chair back and forth as he did so. "I guess so," he finally replied. "But the only reason I'm weaker than Eras and Janos is because they've been around for far longer."

She had previously guessed he was in his late teens to early twenties from the sound of his voice. But she was reminded that he was a god; he had to be much, much older. "How old are you, Eras, and Janos?" she quietly questioned. She suddenly felt incredibly young.

"Eras is practically ancient. I think she's lost count, to be honest, and just doesn't care. The same can be said about Janos."

"And you?" she prompted him. She was sitting at the edge of the bed now, only a couple of inches away from the chair Zephyrus was sitting in.

The corners of his eyes turned up. Though she couldn't see anything other than those strange blue eyes, she knew he was smiling behind his mask. "I'm turning sixteen next week."

She nearly fell off the bed.

 **A/N Hey there, all of my wonderful Souls~ I bet I tricked all of you into thinking that I killed off Aleks. *grins evilly* Speaking of the former wither skeleton and the souls inhabiting it, I wanted to bring up an important point about Lex.**

 **If I remember correctly, all the way back in _A Hero's Destiny,_ some of the readers didn't like how Lex was willing to join End if it meant protecting someone he loved (Phoenix). He seemed like a coward back then. I had realized when writing that part that some of us, no matter how much we call characters who traitor for that reason foolish, would probably do the same ourselves.**

 **But that's not what I'm trying to get at. It's been two years in the world of this story. Lex has changed. Instead of cowering when he thought he had lost Aleks, he grabbed their sword and was going to attack the killer.**

 **I just thought it would be a good idea to mention that. ^-^**

 **As always, here's the accounts!**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany, ask-aph-minecraftia**

 **See that last one? The one about Minecraftia? If you love this story and have heard of Hetalia, you should check it out! That's all I'm saying. I'm feeling a little bit mysterious today. XD**

 **Remember something important. You. Can. Mess. With Télos. Please stop by and leave him asks. If you don't have a Tumblr, send me your ask via PM or review and I'll ask him for you! You've all been missing out on a wonderful opportunity. Seriously. I mean, now you know his fear of ghosts! Use it to your advantage!**

 **See you in Chapter 17~**


	18. Chapter 17: Fairy Tales

**Disclaimer – I do not own _Minecraft_ , _Five Nights at Freddy's_ , _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ , _The Bartimaeus Sequence_ , or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 17:**

 **Fairy Tales**

 **Aquarius' PoV:**

Once the supposed ghost problem had been solved, Télos suggested they all call it a night. It had been a tiring day, and Aquarius was far too happy to agree.

Liz and Aquarius had room adjacent to each other; there was a door between the two that they could use in case there was an emergency.

They stood awkwardly in front of the doors to their respective rooms. Neither was quite sure what to say. Though Aquarius wasn't aware of it, neither of the two had ever been told good night by their parents. "Well, I guess this is good night," Liz finally said after they stared at each other for several minutes.

"Yeah," Aquarius quietly agreed.

"See you tomorrow morning?"

He nodded.

"Let's get breakfast together tomorrow...or something..." His chosen's face was strangely red. She quickly turned away from him for reasons he couldn't comprehend and threw open the door to her room. Rushing inside, she slammed it behind her.

He quietly entered his own.

It wasn't long before he fell asleep.

* * *

Someone was shaking his shoulder. He opened one eye and peered into the darkness. "Liz?" he hesitantly questioned. The shaking ceased. Grabbing his mask from his nightstand, he put it on and turned over to face her.

And found himself staring at a very different person than he expected. "You don't have to hide your face around me, Rius," the teenage boy before him said with a pout.

"Remus?" he whispered, placing his mask down beside him. The boy grinned in response and sat on the edge of the bed. It had been years since his imaginary friend had appeared; why now, of all times? Though he had aged, Aquarius still knew it was him. His blond hair was still as messy as before, and he still had the same hopeful gleam to his blue eyes. "Wh-why are you here?"

His imaginary friend kicked his legs back and forth. "You're in a new place, Rius! You wanted something you knew, even if you didn't realize it." The grin grew larger. "So ta-da, here I am! Talk to me about whatever you want!" Even though he looked older, Remus acted no different than he had the last time he had seen him.

He stared down at the sheets. "I don't think Liz likes me," he quietly admitted.

"Why?" Remus innocently questioned, but Aquarius didn't miss the anger that briefly flared up in his eyes and the way he became tense.

He quickly explained the incidents of before they went to bed. Her sudden departure had upset him. What if she hated him? He didn't think he could deal with hatred from his chosen. He wanted her to like him.

His imaginary friend's shoulders relaxed. "Don't you remember reading all of those stories with me? Remember how princes and princesses would have happily ever afters together?"

He nodded.

"You're her prince."

He stared blankly at Remus. "Neither of us are royalty," he nervously pointed out. He wasn't usually nervous around his imaginary friend – he never had gotten mad at Aquarius before – but whatever he was implying terrified the god of water.

Not that he had a clue what that "whatever" even was.

"She wants a happily ever after with you," Remus explained. "She loves you, Rius. It's making her feel funny around you – that's why she went into her room the way she did. It makes her face feel hot and her tummy feel as if there's a bazillion butterflies in it. And if you get close to her, her heart starts beating faster and faster and faster."

Aquarius stared at the door adjoining their rooms. Then his gaze dropped down to his stomach and his hesitantly placed a hand on his cheek. "Remus," he whispered slowly, "I think I want a happily ever after with her too. Wh-what should I do?" He knew he could trust his imaginary friend to show him the way. It had always worked like that.

"You have to wait. A lot has happened to you two, and remember, you just met today. Wait a bit and then tell her how you feel!" He crawled over to Aquarius' side. "Do you want me to tell you stories like I always do?"  
He nodded.

And so Remus told him a story of far away lands until he fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Remus silently got off the bed. He gently pried Aquarius' mask out of his hands and placed it on the nightstand. Then he stared down at the sleeping god of water, watching the rise and fall of his chest. His heart was heavy with sadness and guilt about what was yet to come as he leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. "Good night, Aquarius," he whispered, "and I guess this is also goodbye."

 **Liz's PoV:  
**

There was something sitting on the edge of her bed, and that realization absolutely terrified her.

It was a creature made of shadows, with a large smile full of sharp teeth and piercing red eyes that stared into the very depths of her soul. The shadows seemed as if they could barely contain themselves into the humanoid form. "Elizabeth Hardy," it simply said. It spoke with a multitude of voices, some feminine, some masculine, and some with an indeterminable gender.

Shivers raced up and down her spine. She opened her mouth to yell for help, but then she felt something sharp up against her neck. She expected to see a blade when she looked down. Instead, she found herself staring at a claw as sharp as a dagger. "Do not say a word," it whispered, its voices all like ice. "If you do, I will slit your throat. Do you understand me?"

She gave a slight nod.

"Good. I am here to warn you of something." Her eyes widened. What was it getting at? "If you ever harm your god Aquarius, Elizabeth Hardy, whether it be emotionally or physically, I will come back. And when I do, I will slowly torture you in the most painful way possible before ending your pitiful life." It leaned in close to her. Its breath smelled like rotting flesh. "Am I clear?"

"Yes!" she managed to get out. It leaned back and traced the outline of her face with a clawed finger. She could only watch it in horrid fascination.

And then the thing suddenly vanished, leaving with a whisper of, "Remember."

She had a hard time falling back asleep that night.

 **A/N Hey there, all of my wonderful Souls~ Things are getting a bit more mysterious and ominous; there's definitely a hint of foreshadowing in this chapter of an event soon to occur. I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out. Hopefully you liked it as well! If you did, please leave a review. It really means a lot to me.  
**

 **As always, here's the accounts!**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany, ask-aph-minecraftia, ask-the-recurve-fangirl**

 **The latest of this new ask blogs (I have an obsession. I know.) is for May Acker, a character who has been in the last two chapters of Geist's fanfiction _The Puppet's Dance._ Even if you haven't read that, please stop by her Tumblr and ask her stuff. She's supposed to be relatable. She's also in a lot of fandoms, so you can fangirl/fanboy with her via asks (or roleplays, if you have a Tumblr blog).**

 **Remember something important. You. Can. Mess. With. Télos. Please stop by and leave him asks. If you don't have a Tumblr, send me your ask via PM or review and I'll ask him for you! You've all been missing out on a wonderful opportunity. Seriously. I mean, now you know his fear of ghosts! Use it to your advantage!**

 **See you in Chapter 18~**


	19. Chapter 18: Invisible

**Disclaimer – I do not own _Minecraft_ , _Five Nights at Freddy's_ , _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ , _The Bartimaeus Sequence_ , or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 18:**

 **Invisible  
**

 **Renee's PoV:**

It took her about an hour to track down Zephyrus, and she had to unfortunately to talk to Janos in order to find him. He was a terrifying god, but she was able to stand her ground. Maybe it was possible that she would someday earn his respect.

The god of ice had left her alone in her room to go to talk with Eras the day before; when he had returned, he seemed distracted and not as bubbly as he had prior to leaving. After grabbing a bite to eat – mushroom stew tasted surprisingly good – they had headed off towards their rooms for the night. She hoped that whatever was troubling him could easily be resolved.

She opened the door to the laboratory.

There was a brewing stand in the back corner of the room. It was there that she found her god, asleep with his head in a thick leather-bound book and his mask slightly dislodged. She made her way through the various contraptions scattered across the room. Rather roughly, she shook him.

He groggily raised his head. "Hi Renee," he simply said as he fixed his mask.

"What were you doing before you fell asleep?"

A yawn escaped his lips. "I was making an invisibility potion. I knocked one over this morning; I've cleaned it up, but I didn't want there to be a shortage of them."

She peered over his shoulder. She could feel the heat radiating from the brewing stand. It looked so strange in real life. In fact, most things from Minecraft looked strange now that they were reality. "What's that book about?"

"Magic," he mysteriously said as he got to his feet and checked the potion's progress. Seeing that it was done, he removed the potion and put it in a cabinet that contained other magical concoctions. He grabbed the book and slipped it underneath his arm.

She rushed to keep up with him as they left the room. "Would it teach me how to use my powers?"

"No," he said with a laugh. "You have to learn that for yourself. Besides, you'd probably wouldn't be able to understand this book." There was taunting yet mischievous glint to his icy blue eyes.

"Oh yeah?" she replied, cracking her fists. She was pleased to note that she was still able to successfully do that, despite being in a different body. "I bet I could."

Even though the mask covered his mouth, she was sure that her god was smirking. "Alright. Let's assume that you're a..." He thought for a moment. "A cardician. What would your patter be? And would you have a cold deck?"

She stared at him. "What on Earth are you talking about?"

Another laugh left his lips. "Magic," he innocently answered.

"I've never heard of any of that before!"

"That's because you're thinking of the wrong type of magic, Renee." From his pocket, he withdrew a deck of cards. "A cardician is a magician who uses cards. Patter is the way you talk while doing your performance; I prefer to do more humorous ones to keep the audience entertained and distracted on my dialogue. And a cold deck is a deck secretly switched in during a performance. It's called 'cold' because it hasn't been used before."

She was unable to keep the disbelief out of her voice. "You do magic tricks?"

"I started doing it to pass the time when I was younger," he began, using his left hand to show the height he was all of those years ago. "And now I do it because it's incredibly entertaining." He absentmindedly tossed a familiar looking flashlight from one hand to the other as they walked to the mess hall; it was only when she glanced down at her belt did she realize why she recognized it.

"When did you take my flashlight?!" she exclaimed.

With what had to be a smirk, he replied, "When I was answering your last question. I used another thing I've learned from being a magician. Misdirection. You were focused on what my left hand was doing – I used my right to nick your flashlight." He returned it to her. "Now, how does some bread sound for breakfast?"

 **Aquarius' PoV:**

"Hi, Liz," he managed to get out when he sat down next to his chosen at breakfast the next morning. His face grew red as he remembered his conversation the night before with Remus; for the first time in his life, he was grateful for his mask. He lifted it up slightly in order to eat, but made sure not to reveal more than his mouth to his chosen.

"H-Hi Aquarius," was the louder reply. She stared down at her food. Instead, Aquarius looked around the mess hall at the multitude of endermen. They all seemed happy, eagerly chatting with one another as they cleared their plates of even crumbs. There was a couple of them sitting alone, but those were occupied with other things.

He was quick to notice something interesting; they were the only two at their table, despite the empty space it offered. Endermen entering would chose to sit at nearly full tables, despite seeming to possess no connection with the others already seated.

"Why is no one sitting here?" he questioned, bewildered.

Liz looked up from her meal. "Because we look like players."

His eyes clearly showed his confusion. "Why is that a bad thing?"

Her face was initially full of disbelief. Then she looked him over – he shifted nervously in his seat at the attention – and her gaze softened. "Because players kill other mobs, Aquarius. And that's something all of us players have to deal with." She sighed and readjusted her scarf. If her hands weren't occupied with that, he would have slipped his own into the one closest to him to comfort her. "I wish I was a god. Then I could change my form and no one would realize that I was a player."

"Gods can do th-" Before he could finish his sentence, there was a commotion in the hallway. He could hear shouting and the sound of metal hitting metal. None of the others in the mess hall appeared to hear it, most likely because the talking muted it and they were too far away from the exit.

Liz and Aquarius exchanged glances before rushing into the hallway.

"Give up already, bastard! I'm the superior fighter – I have more fucking battle experience!"

"I'm not going to be defeated that easily!"

They found themselves staring at a sight they would have never expected. The enderwoman skeleton from the day before was in the middle of fighting against Lexal, the weapon of choice for both sides being an iron sword. He quickly realized Lex's soul was controlling the skeleton and Aleks was in control of their body.

"What the Nether are you guys doing?" Liz said incredulously.

The two, taking notice of the god of water and his chosen, lowered their swords. "We're sparring," Lex replied.

"The bastard and I spent the entire night trying to get him to control his soul's ejection from my body." Aleks' sword, which had a strangely gold hilt with an endereye in the center, was quickly returned to its sheath. Its owner had a smug grin on his face. "We mastered it around midnight. We've been getting used to fighting without each other since then.

"Lex helpfully added, "We've also come to the conclusion that I was originally ejected from his body because there's only supposed to be one soul in a body and I was the foreign soul."

A second later, he saw Katy approaching from the end of the hallway. "Télos wants to talk to us all," she simply said.

Aquarius and Liz turned to return to the mess hall.

"You two as well."

Exchanging curiosity-filled glances, the two followed her to whatever Télos had in store.

 **A/N Hey there, all of my wonderful Souls~ I, admittedly, have never been able to do a successful magic trick, despite trying to learn one when I was a kid. Zephyrus' knowledge came from Wikipedia, so if you're an actual magician and I messed up on any of the terminology, please tell me in your review!**

 **As always, here's the accounts!**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany, ask-aph-minecraftia, ask-the-recurve-fangirl**

 **Remember something important. You. Can. Mess. With. Télos. Please stop by and leave him asks. If you don't have a Tumblr, send me your ask via PM or review and I'll ask him for you! You've all been missing out on a wonderful opportunity. Seriously. I mean, you know his fear of ghosts! Use it to your advantage!**

 **See you in Chapter 19~**


	20. Chapter 19: Barrier

**Disclaimer – I do not own _Minecraft_ , _Five Nights at Freddy's_ , _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ , _The Bartimaeus Sequence_ , or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 19:**

 **Barrier**

 **Renee's PoV:**

"I have to go," Zephyrus abruptly announced, rising from his seat. His voice was hesitant, and his actions slow.

She rose as well. "Where are you going?"

"To do something Eras and Tom wanted me to do." His voice was strangely cold and emotionless; it wasn't anything like the voice he had previously used while talking to her. Then it suddenly reverted to how it had been before. "There's some books in your room that tell the history of this world. Why don't you read it while I'm gone? Then when I get back, I'll finally show you around this place and you can meet the tis."

"Tis-" she began to question, but Zephyrus had already exited the mess hall.

 **Liz's PoV:**

Initially, she had tried to pass the terrifying experience from the night before off as a very realistic nightmare. But when she had been putting her scarf on the next morning, her fingers brushed against a small scar on the side of her neck. She was faced with the truth. That thing, whatever it was, had come into her room and almost killed her. She knew she was lucky to be alive.

Katy opened the doors to what Liz assumed would be some sort of throne room. After all, Télos was a god who also liked gold. Besides, his wife had one.

That wasn't the case.

She found herself in a room very similar to the one where she had met the others in Oracle's fortress. It seemed out of place in the vast palace, but she was grateful for the familiarity it provided. Télos and Glistro were already in the room. Glistro was leaning casually against the wall. It seemed like she didn't really care about whatever matter was at hand. Télos, on the other hand, look extremely worried. He was fingering his braid absentmindedly and tapping his feet against the ground.

He was also wearing a different outfit than the one from the day before. "You've never worn that before," Lex commented as they all sat down.

The god of gold's gaze turned to the skeleton sitting on the edge of the seat Aleks was in. "Lex?" he said in disbelief. "Why aren't you in Aleks' body?"  
"Someone finally fucking understands that it's my body!" the former wither skeleton exclaimed. "The bastard and I were testing out his new ability of leaving my body."

"Oh." Télos seemed not truly into the conversation, his eyes continuing to wander about the room. "I've been wanting to try this outfit out for awhile."

The outfit in question consisted of a dark purple shirt, black pants, black boots, and a long black coat. Liz thought it looked incredibly cool and badass, but knew now wasn't the right time to bring it up. "What's wrong, Télos?" she questioned.

He took a deep breath. "As Aleks and Lex both know, there's a barrier in place around the land mass that's the End. It doesn't protect it from attacks or anything like that. It just lets me know if anyone has entered it. It also captures a bit of their magic, if they possess it." He glanced at the group assembled. "Last night something entered the End."

A shiver raced up Liz's spine.

"I've checked the magic. Though it doesn't belong to anyone I know, it's partially constructed out of familiar magic..."

Aquarius, rather hesitantly, asked, "Whose?"

Télos' face had gone pale. "Mine." The tapping of his feet grew louder and faster. "I need to know if any of you encountered anything out of the ordinary last night."

She waited for someone else to speak. Upon coming to the realization that she was the only one who had encountered the horrifying being of shadows, she knew she had to be the one to speak up. "Last night, a thing made out of shadows appeared in my room," she began. Then she went on to recount all of the events of the night before. She left out none of the details, and tried her hardest to remember the exact words said.

After she finished speaking, the attention of the room shifted from her to the mob she was sitting next to.

Aquarius.

"I don't know what that was," he frantically said; her god sounded on the verge of tears. She instinctively drew him close to prevent the tears from spilling over. "I swear I didn't have anything to do with! Please don't get mad!"

"We're not mad at you, Aquarius," she soothingly assured him. "We're just trying to figure out what in Minecraftia is going on, and you're our only clue so far."  
Suddenly, Télos shot to his feet. "Something's entered through the barrier...And its magic is exactly the same as the intruder's from last night." He made a sweeping gesture as a golden sword appeared in his free hand. "We need to get ready to fight whatever it is before it gets here – chances are that it's come for Liz or Aquarius-"

"So _you're_ Télos, god of gold."

 **A/N Hello, wonderful Souls~ I'm incredibly excited for the next chapter! Though I've stopped doing flashbacks every time we get ten chapters further, I figured an important plot point was a great way to keep this story going and raise the stakes. Please leave your guesses on the intruder's identity in your review!**

 **As always, here's the accounts!**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany, ask-aph-minecraftia, ask-the-recurve-fangirl**

 **Remember something important. You. Can. Mess. With. Télos. Please stop by and leave him asks. If you don't have a Tumblr, send me your ask via PM or review and I'll ask him for you! You've all been missing out on a wonderful opportunity. Seriously. I mean, you know his fear of ghosts! Use it to your advantage!**

 **See you in Chapter 20~**


	21. Chapter 20: The Demigod of Eras

**Disclaimer – I do not own _Minecraft_ , _Five Nights at Freddy's_ , _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ , _The Bartimaeus Sequence_ , or Vocaloid. The name Zephyrus was taken from the main character of the _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ and _Harry Potter_ crossover fanfiction _The Ice Prince Alchemist._ I only own my characters, the plot, and the concepts in this story (i.e. shells).**

 **Please read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 20:**

 **The Demigod of Eras**

 **Télos' PoV:**

Standing in the doorway was a seemingly human teenager. A pair of icy blue eyes watched them all from behind a mask. It was a simple mask, its only adornment being a black smile stretching from cheek to cheek. His hair, which was white, was short and spiky. It was if he had stuck his fingers into a socket.

Besides the mask, he was dressed in only a white tunic with a light blue trim, black leggings, and a pair of sandals.

Aleks shot to his feet. "Who the Nether are you?!"

"The name is Zephyrus, god of ice." He bowed, almost as if he was a performer and this was all just his show. His gaze turned back to Télos. "I've heard so much about you, god of gold. I've heard of how you lost everything; your girlfriend, your father, your mother, and your true love. How you sacrificed yourself and left your beloved best friend truly alone in the world. And how you let the darkness take control of your heart, only to be freed when that same best friend and his chosen struck what should have been a killing blow."

A golden sword appeared in Télos' hands. "Who told you that?" he quietly questioned. It was common knowledge for anyone who paid attention to the world and was aware of its workings; the only mobs who didn't know were the ones who had been living in isolation for the past couple of years or were from Earth. But it was the way that Zephyrus informed him of the knowledge he possessed that made his heart skip a beat.

"Should I tell you?" He crossed his arms and tilted his head. After several moments of thinking to himself, he replied with a simple name.

"Eras."

Télos' sword clattered to the ground. "You're lying," he managed to get out. "She-She can't be-"

Then realization struck him hard, and he felt his legs go weak underneath him. Zephyrus was the intruder from before; he could feel it. Just like he knew that they possessed the same magic. He was staring at something he never thought he would see. It was a chance that he had thought died long ago with her in the fire that had left him all alone.

But that had apparently all been a carefully crafted lie. Her magic coursed through the ice god's veins. There was no way he could deny the connection he knew Zephyrus and him shared.

Zephyrus was her son.

"Pick up your fucking sword!" Aleks' yell cut through his confusion and hurt, jerking him back into the present situation. He quickly leaned down and grabbed his sword. The former wither skeleton looked as if he was about to attack. He could see him tensing up in preparation of it.

"Don't harm him."

Everyone turned to face Télos, disbelief written across their faces. "Why?" Glistro questioned, throwing her sword from one hand to the other.

Zephyrus laughed. It was the type of laugh a villain would make, but for some strange reason it sounded broken. "I assume you've caught on, Télos?"

He nodded. "You're Eras' son." A pause. "And my half-brother, unless she kept you hidden after my dad's death."

"You're completely correct, big brother. Though I may be only sixteen, I am just as powerful as you are. Perhaps even stronger. After all, the blood of two different races runs through my veins." He glanced at everyone's faces as if trying to gauge their reaction. Curiously enough, his gaze lingered on Aquarius for the longest.

"A demigod," the god of water whispered.

The comment seemed to take Zephyrus by surprise; his confident and condescending persona disappeared for just a quick second before reappearing once more. "Yes." From his pocket, he withdrew a strange contraption. It looked as if it was a child's doll, made of metal instead of cloth. "Now, all of you must be wondering why I decided to come here." He showed them all the mechanical doll. "I've come to claim one of your souls."

"You can't do that!" Liz exclaimed in protest.

Zephyrus laughed once more. "I can, player. All I have to do is press the button on the back of this doll and I'll capture it. It doesn't work with all souls, mind you. Only the ones that have no body to call their own."

Both Télos and Aleks came to the same conclusion at the same moment. "You're not taking Lex!" "Leave the bastard alone!" When Zephyrus only continued to laugh, they both tried to attack him.

But no matter how hard he tried to knock the doll out of his hands, Télos couldn't lift his feet off the ground. He looked down.

His feet were frozen to the floor.

None of them had realized that they were stuck; he must have used his powers when they were all too focused on the reveal that he was a demigod and a sibling to Télos to notice what he had done.

Zephyrus pressed the button.

Télos desperately tried sending a golden spear towards him to knock the doll out of his hands, but the demigod easily sidestepped and the damage had been done. There was the sound of bones falling to the floor as Lex's soul was captured.

"Give him fucking back!" Aleks angrily yelled. "I don't fucking care that you're Télos' brother – I'll run my fucking sword through your heart and fucking kill you if you harm him!"

"Why are you doing this?!" Télos exclaimed. He was faced with a familiar feeling of helplessness; he knew there was nothing he could do to save someone he cared about.

Zephyrus turned around and started to leave the room. "Because, dear brother, some of us find enjoyment in seeing others squirm with despair when they know they can't do anything at all." Then he threw the contraption containing Lex's soul over his shoulder. Télos felt a surge of hope run through him; Lex was alright. Who cared why Zephyrus had acted the way he had? His chosen was safe and he hadn't lost anyone else-

Ice spikes suddenly appeared around the doll. It only took seconds for them to pierce its metal exterior and stab the soul resting inside. And then an empty orb made of ice formed around it before smashing it into dust.

"Mother loves you, brother!" Zephyrus shouted from out in the hallway. "She gives you her best regards!" The ice around their feet suddenly disappeared, freeing them.

Aleks, with a burst of speed, reached the doorway and was about to leave when Télos stopped him. The god of gold shook his head. "He's gone, Aleks," he whispered. "I can feel that he's left."  
Their gazes returned to what had once been Lex.

 **A/N Hello, wonderful Souls~ My cheery demeanor is probably killing you if Lex's death didn't. I've proud to have come this far with the story, and I have many plans for what lays ahead. There was many plot twists with this chapter that I'm not sure anyone saw coming – especially the one with Eras being Télos' mother.**

 **By the way, I've updated the prologue (please check it out if you haven't already; it has a lot of important stuff in it) and edited a cover for this fanfiction. I hope you guys like both! ^_^**

 **As always, here's the accounts!**

 **Quotev: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **DeviantArt: SoulErrorArwitch**

 **Tumblr: soulerrorarwitch, ask-telos-of-minecraftia, ask-geist-of-germany, ask-aph-minecraftia, ask-the-recurve-fangirl**

 **Remember something important. You. Can. Mess. With. Télos. Please stop by and leave him asks. If you don't have a Tumblr, send me your ask via PM or review and I'll ask him for you! You've all been missing out on a wonderful opportunity. Seriously. I mean, you know his fear of ghosts! Use it to your advantage!**

 **See you in Chapter 21~**


	22. Chapter 21: Imprisoned

**[Please read the author's note at the end of the prologue before reading this chapter if you haven't already.]**

 **Author's Note: This is a chapter that has been sitting on my computer for a long time. The writing style doesn't completely reflect the writer that I am now, but it's a crucial part of the story that I don't want to avoid. If you're here from the days when I was SoulErrorArwitch, welcome back. And if you're a new reader, I hope you enjoy the direction I'm going to be taking this story in starting with this chapter.**

 **I don't own the rights to _Minecraft_ , but I'm sure you already know that.**

 **September 17th, 2017**

 **-Sae-**

 **Chapter 21**

 **Imprisoned**

Lex struggled to break free from the demigod's grip, but his new body limited his actions. He was forced to remain silent and unmoving. All that he could do was listen to the sound of the horrified yells coming from inside the room that he had just been taken out of. He wanted to tell them that he was alive, and that the doll that had been destroyed wasn't the one that his soul was bound to. And yet, he couldn't.

He was sure that Zephyrus was smiling underneath the mask that he wore. The mask seemed so _familiar_ , but Lex couldn't put finger on why and frankly didn't want to at the moment. He just wanted to know why Zephyrus had acted the way that he had. The actions didn't line up with what he had said to Télos. This wasn't to cause pain. The switching of the dolls was meant to trick the others into believing that he was gone.

But why?

The seemingly teenage boy's form shifted into one of an enderman. This enderman didn't stand out like Zephyrus' previous form had, and he maneuvered his way through the End with ease. Even when they reached the end portal, none of the other endermen had questioned who he was or why he was holding such a strange mechanical toy.

"You can't get out of either the doll or my hand," Zephyrus assured him as they stepped through to the other side. The sight of familiar trees greeted Lex's new eyes. They were frustratingly close to Hero's base. If only he could call for help!

Zephyrus' form shifted back to the one he had used when he first appeared, though wings made of ice quickly sprouted out of his back. The sudden usage of magic surprised Lex, though he was even more shocked when Zephyrus was able to actually fly with them.

They soared for an indeterminable amount of time, going farther than Lex had traveled in the past. Something large came into view as they passed over a forest blanketed by layers of snow. Lex gave a gasp that only he could hear when he saw what it was.

It was a floating fortress.

They landed on one of the flatter sections of the monstrosity. Not long after they did so, a man emerged from the enormous doors that guarded its interior. There was something oddly familiar about him, but it was only when he spoke that Lex realized who he was.

"They're ready for the soul," the man informed Zephyrus.

Zephyrus's grip around Lex tightened.

 _H-How could that be?_

 _That voice is the one that the evil version of Télos had!_

* * *

The tis, Renee learned after reading the books that Zephyrus had left behind, were a race created by Eras. They were essentially albino enderman – instead of black scales, they had white, and the normally purple eyes were red. They also all possessed angelic white wings and were adept at both battle and navigation. She only knew this later bit from when she was trying to locate her room; she had run into one as she wandered the hallways.

She spent the rest of the morning reading the two books he had left. Her mind jumped from topic to topic as she greedily devoured the information. It was midway through the second book that she thought of her girlfriend and best friend.

She paused and leaned back in the chair. What was happening back on Earth? Katy and Bas were most likely worried for her. If she had found out either one of them was sucked into Minecraft, she would be worried too. Was it possible to return? There had to be a way. Or, at least, she needed to contact the two of them. She could ask Zephyrus about it-

She stared down at the page. One of the words was circled. She continued to flip through the book and found the same thing in other places. Curious about why they were circled, she decided to look for the same thing in the first book she read. Instead of words, page numbers were circled. What could that mean?  
Grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil, she wrote out the information.

Third corridor. Left side coming from food. Fourth door.

1294402

It was directions and a password!

She followed the directions to an iron door with a small keypad. Without hesitating, she punched in the numbers and entered the room. It was small, the only pieces of furniture being several filing cabinets, a table and a chair. Files were spread across the table. For some strange reason, she felt as if what she was doing was incredibly dangerous. The smartest move would be to return to her room and wait for Zephyrus' return.

But instead, she found herself reading the documents.

Her face paled as she read more and more. She shook her head in denial at the information; the details on the Ultimate Weapon and Project Gemini – that couldn't be true! Zephyrus had said that they were the good guys. She was his chosen. He wouldn't have lied to her!

 _"Minecraftia isn't as peaceful as you think it would be," Zephyrus darkly replied. "Some individuals want to take it over, which is why the weapon is needed."_

As the memory came back to her, understanding dawned. The individuals he was referring to were Janos, Eras, Tom and him, not some third party! How could she have been so stupid?!

* * *

He left the soul with his mother; she promptly informed him that they would be ready in an hour to use it. Heart heavy, he headed back towards Renee's room. Then he paused – oddly enough, the door to the room where they stored the files was open. Janos had gone off after greeting him at the entrance to do more scouting, while Tom was with Eras. The tis didn't know the password. So who could possibly be inside?

He peeked his head in.

To his horror, he saw Renee gathering the files on the table into her arms and turning towards the doorway. He pressed himself back against the wall as she exited. He didn't want to confront her after she had seen the truth. He didn't know how.

But she still noticed him. "Zephyrus."

He stood up straight. "Hi, Renee!" he cheerfully exclaimed. His mask felt all too fake as he stared at her. "What's up? You seem upset."

She gestured at the files in her hands.

He dropped the first of his many acts. "So you found out," he said. He kept his voice calm and monotone, but he was trying his hardest not to cry. "You realized that we're the villains, haven't you?"

She nodded.

A laugh left his lips. Cold and evil, it came easily to him. He walked over to her so they were only inches apart. "I was waiting for you to, my chosen." He was grateful that his mask was hiding the tears sliding down his face. "What are you going to now? Run? Fight?"

She sounded hesitant. "I'll fight you."


	23. Chapter 22: Change

**Author's Note: This is the first chapter that's completely new content! I'm proud of how it turned out, and I hope you enjoy reading it.  
**

 **As I've said in the previous chapters, _Minecraft_ isn't mine. The only things that I own are the characters and plot of this story. **

**September 17th, 2017**

 **-Sae-**

 **Chapter 22**

 **Change**

When the words had left her mouth, Renee had been fairly certain that it was the right choice. Zephyrus wasn't a good person, and he wasn't going to let her go easily. Fighting was the logical choice during the split second she had to come up with a response.

But as they both silently stood in the hall, it seemed less and less appealing.

Zephyrus watched her from behind his mask. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking with only his eyes and his posture as a clue. His eyes were oddly moist, and his posture seemed stiff. This was a moment that he hadn't wanted. That much she was sure of. He seemed reserved now, but he had always been that way – he had just hidden it behind jokes and laughter.

She held the papers closer to her chest. It was the only weapon that she had, but she didn't even know how she could use them to aid in her fight. Zephyrus was a demigod. He possessed powers that he claimed she shared, but she doubted she would be able to tap into them the way that he had.

And if she chose to go back on what she had said and flee instead, where would she run to? Where could she possibly go? He was the only link she had to this world. Leaving him meant starting from scratch. Could she really brave the unknown? It seemed so daunting as she contemplated the decision she knew she had to come to.

A sword made of ice suddenly formed in Zephyrus' hands. He darted forward before she could react to it, pressing it up against her neck. A small droplet of blood rolled down from the wound he had just inflicted, but he didn't press further. He simply held his position and watched her. "I'm waiting for the battle you just promised me," he whispered into her ear.

She stumbled back away from the demigod. Her instincts finally kicked in, and she found herself running away from the boy that she had trusted. This situation was more dangerous than any of the ones she had ever been in, and there was no reset. She couldn't start anew if he dealt the final blow.

What should have been fiction had become her reality.

She darted down hallway after hallway in search of something she could use to escape from the fortress. Remaining here wasn't an option. Zephyrus would easily find her. Even if she had to deal with the threat of mobs, it would be safer than staying inside the building.

She eventually stumbled into one of the equipment rooms. It was there that she found her means of escape. A rack of elytras stared back at her as she went further into the room. After briefly fumbling with the straps, she managed to put it on. She grabbed the files from where she had taken them and once again held them close. They were important, though she wasn't sure how she was going to use their knowledge once she got away from this place.

It wasn't long before she was gliding away from the fortress, Zephyrus seemingly lost among the maze of corridors.

* * *

How long had Lex been gone? How long had he been staring hopelessly at what had once been him? He was supposed to be doing something, but all of the strength had been lost when the ice had pierced the doll that Lex had inhabited. His tears had ceased falling, but he still hadn't moved from the spot beside the shards.

It wasn't fair. It had never been fair for him, but all of the time he had spent with Lex made him feel like his life was finally taking a turn for the better. All of the moments that they had shared felt like they were meant. And of course he had treasured all of them. He understood the importance of treasuring the little moments. He would be a fool not to after all that he had been through.

But he wasn't supposed to lose Lex again.

He heard someone sit down beside him, but he didn't look up.

"I sent an enderman to Oracle and to Hero," Télos said. His voice was hoarse. The god had been the one to cry the hardest, though he was a close second. "I thought...I thought Phoenix would want to know."

He nodded. Silence once again descended upon them, but he didn't want to break it. Talking to Télos meant opening himself up to him, and he couldn't deal with that so soon after losing the only one who had truly understood him.

"We'll get revenge," the god of gold promised him, but the words sounded hollow to his ears. Revenge had never amounted to anything. Revenge was just a bubbling hatred that had eaten away at him without ever paying off. It hadn't fixed things then. He doubted it would now.

When he spoke, his voice was just as hoarse as Télos' was. "...Where are the others?"

His reply was swift, but it lacked the passion his voice usually had. "They're in Liz's room, looking for clues on the disturbance last night. I don't know if they'll be able to find anything. And, right now, I don't really care about it."

He looked over at the god. Télos had always presented such a cheerful persona. He had noticed it over a year ago, but he hadn't put much thought in it. Acting like he wasn't hurting seemed like Télos' way to cope with his past. But this wasn't the mask that he had always worn. There wasn't even cracks in it. Télos' had removed it in its entirety, letting him see how he truly felt.

And that honesty made him feel like he could be honest too.

"I feel like it's my fault," he replied. His words lacked their usual bite. "I know I couldn't have done anything. I keep trying to tell myself that."

"But part of you argues that you could have," Télos finished. He gave him a sad, understanding smile. "It happens to me all of the time. I keep telling myself that I could have regained control sooner, even though I know that I only returned to normal because of Hero."

He didn't cry again. His tears had already been spent. But a fresh wave of sadness washed over him. There was no way he would truly ever be able to deal with this pain he felt. He would carry it like he had carried the deaths of the others.

"It hurts worst than I ever expected it would," Aleks whispered.


	24. Chapter 23: Lies and Revelations

**Author's Note: I don't have much to say for this chapter. My only request is that you review it when you finish reading it! I love seeing what people think of my work.**

 **Also, _Minecraft_ still doesn't belong to me.**

 **September 18th, 2017**

 **-Sae-**

 **Chapter 23**

 **Lies and Revelations**

Aquarius scanned the bedroom for anything that seemed out of place. The only thing that didn't feel right was the heaviness that had blanketed the room and its occupants. None of them had been especially close to Lex – they had barely known him. But even knowing a small bit of him made his heart ache. Death was a relatively new concept to Aquarius. He had known that it existed, and he had read about the pain it inflicted. But it was only now that he truly understood what his stories had been talking about.

And it was difficult to focus on the room when Zephyrus had seemed so _familiar_. It was stupid to think that he had meet him before because he was sure that he would remember someone like that. How could he not? Even if his feelings were wrong, it still didn't explain why Zephyrus' eyes had lingered on him back in the room.

He felt someone place their hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump in surprise immediately afterwards. He turned around to see Liz watching him with a concerned expression on her face. "Aquarius?" she asked. "You were spacing out."

 _"She wants a happily ever after with you," Remus explained._

Heat suddenly rose to his face as his conversation with his imaginary friend returned; he was glad that his mask hid how red his cheeks were becoming. "...I was thinking about Zephyrus."

Liz glanced around the room. "I've been thinking about him too, but every time I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere, I end up getting more confused."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

She crossed her arms, quickly looking over at the bed before her gaze settled on him. "So we established that the thing that came here last night had magic similar to Télos' right? I mean, I don't know a lot about Télos. It could have to do directly with him. But Zephyrus would have to have at least some of it, right? He's his half-brother."

"So _Zephyrus_ was the one who came to your room last night?" Katy chimed in, having overheard the conversation. Both her and Glistro appeared to be having the same luck the other two had been having before they stopped. When Liz hesitantly nodded, she added, "But why would he care so much about Aquarius?"

All attention shifted to him. He felt so small standing there, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. If Zephyrus had been the one in Liz's room last night, then that meant the demigod and him were somehow connected. And if that was the case, what if he was indirectly responsible for Lex's death? The thought made him want to cry.

Glistro suddenly pointed at the door connecting Liz and Aquarius' rooms. At first glance, it looked as if it hadn't been opened. But a closer inspection of it proved otherwise – it was open just a crack. "Liz, you said that you never used that last night. So why is it open?"

They all stared at the door.

"Aquarius," Liz slowly said, "are you sure no one came into your room last night?"

He nodded. Imaginary friends didn't count. Anyways, teenagers weren't supposed to have them. It was just be embarrassing to talk about Remus appearing again. He was sure that they would ask all sorts of questions that he didn't want to answer about him. He thought of Remus' blue eyes twinkling in the darkness of the room-

 _Oh no._

How had he missed it? He _had_ recognized something about Zephyrus! His blue eyes were exactly the same as Remus' had been. His mind raced to put all of the pieces together. There had been so many things over the years that he should have questioned but didn't. Remus had been able to hold books and read to him. They had been able to play pretend with his toys. He had even felt Remus sit on the bed last night!

"I thought I had an imaginary friend," Aquarius quietly said, pointing at where his room was. "He showed up last night after a long time of not appearing. He said his name was Remus when he first appeared years ago. I think he's Zephyrus."

* * *

Renee could hear the sounds of things moving about in the forest that she had wandered into. It sounded suspiciously like groaning and the creaking of bones, but she didn't stay in one area for long enough to find out. She kept running and running, clutching the files close to her chest. It was easier to without the elytra hindering her.

She still didn't know where she was going, but she did know that it was somewhere far away from where Zephyrus was. She couldn't let him find her. She shuddered at the thought of what he would do to her. What kind of torture would she undergo at his hands?

Something moved in the brush. This one was closer than before, but it also sounded different. There was a distinct lack of unnatural noises. Though she knew she should keep going in case it was Zephyrus, she came to a stop. She heard a yawn as she stared expectantly into the darkness.

A human boy stepped out.

A pair of goggles was nestled into his green hair, and a pair of green eyes took her in. His long black coat was covered in little leaves. Though the rest of his attire was certainly interesting, her eyes lingered on the sheathed sword at his side.

Especially when he reached for it.

"Wait!" Renee cried out, though she wasn't sure why. He seemed like he was intent on harming her with it. She doubted that her words could actually stop him.

But he let go of the hilt upon hearing her speak.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the boy yawned again. "You're a player," he slowly commented, looking her over. His gaze settled on her face.

Seeing that boy wasn't trying to kill her anymore, she felt much more at ease when it came to talking to him. She replied, "I am." And then, when she realized how odd the statement was, she added, "But you're not? You don't look like a mob."

The boy laughed a bit. "I'm not."

"Are there humans here too?"

He shook his head. "Just the players."

So there was other people like her too? The possibilities were endless. Maybe she could find someone who was smart enough to hack into the weapon that Zephyrus had? Or someone wise enough to figure out a plan to sneak in there and destroy it?

But that didn't matter at the moment. "So if you're not a human, what are you?"

He gave her a smile. "A zombie. My name's Zalio, by the way. I took a potion to make me look like a player-"

"Zalio, you can't just go ahead! I haven't been here before, and you're supposed to be the one showing me around," an oddly familiar voice said as its owner pushed through the low hanging branches behind the supposed zombie. She didn't get how she could recognize a voice when it belonged to someone she couldn't have possibly met.

Envy from _Fullmetal Alchemist_ stepped out of the brush, glaring at the branch that slapped him in the face as he did so. Though he was dressed in a hoodie and jeans, the hair and face made him completely recognizable. Renee struggled to wrap her mind around what he was doing here. Why was an anime character in _Minecraft?_

 _No, that's not right. He has to be a player using an Envy skin...Could it possibly be who I think it is?_

The player stared at her. He took in every small detail of her appearance, though he mainly looked at her face. When he seemed satisfied with what he saw, a grin spread across his face. "Renee!" he cried out, pushing past the startled Zalio and hugging her.

She held the files under one arm, using the other to return the embrace. "I can't believe you're here too, Bas!"

"...You know each other?" Zalio slowly questioned.

"Of course we do," Bas replied. "We've been best friends for years!"


	25. Chapter 24: The Weapon

**Author's Note: Foreshadowing and hints to potential plot twists are some of my favorite things to include in my writing, so please pay careful attention to all the details brought up in this chapter. It's an important one, though the next may be even more so.**

 **I don't own _Minecraft_.**

 **September 20th, 2017**

 **-Sae-**

 **Chapter 24**

 **The Weapon**

By the time that Zephyrus slipped into the viewing chamber, the experiment was already coming to a close. He stayed silent when he entered. He was usually quiet around his parents, this moment being no exception. He had stopped crying, but the loss of Renee still clawed at his aching heart. He had seen her escape from one of the fortress' many windows.

Then again, it wasn't like he had actually been trying to catch her.

Eras gestured for him to come closer. He pushed off of the wall that he was leaning against and cautiously approached the glass separating them from the weapon that had just been created. Tom had shown him the much weaker replicas that the players occasionally made, but it compared nothing to this.

Power and magic surged through the small grooves littering the ashen device, appearing as light blue light. That was the first difference that he had noticed. The other was the eyes that stared back at them. While the two sets on the left and right were both empty, there was a certain look to the ones that were filled with light blue light.

"We'll have to run some tests," Tom suddenly commented.

Zephyrus weakly nodded in agreement, but his stomach felt sick at the thought of the destruction that it would cause. He hoped that Renee was doing something with the information that he had accidentally allowed her to find. She was the only one who could stop this. He couldn't.

Then he stumbled back in alarm. Tom and Eras turned to stare at him, but he brushed off the incident with the claim that he had briefly lost his balance. Though it was partially true, there was also a reason behind the action. The weapon had been staring at _him._ Why would it take an interest in the person who hadn't been there to create it? And why did that look make him feel even guiltier than he already felt?

* * *

As the group filed in the sitting room, Liz was greeted by the sight of familiar faces. She felt like she was back in Nether. Hero, Oracle and their respective chosen were all around her. Some were sitting on the floor, while others perched on the ends of already occupied sofas. The only face that she didn't recognize belonged to a girl wearing some sort of uniform. She had several files underneath her arm, but her focus seemed to be on Bas. The two were engaged in a conversation.

When Katy noticed the girl, she gave a startled cry. The girl's head popped up at the sound, only to give a similar one when she saw its source. The two rushed over to each other. It was only when she saw Bas' grin that Liz realized who the newcomer was. Her name was Renee, and she was close friends with Bas and Katy.

Although, from the kiss she was currently giving Katy, the two girls seemed to have become more than that. Liz smiled. It didn't surprise her that much. The two had always been incredibly close.

When they pulled apart, Renee stared at Liz. The smile immediately faded. Of course Renee didn't know it was her; how could she have possibly known? It would seem some strange man was smiling at her for no good reason. Heat rushed to her face as she looked down at the ground. Though her embarrassment was certainly not enjoyable, it wasn't the worst part. She would have to explain everything to Renee. She doubted that she would believe her.

She heard Renee walk over to her.

"I never thought I would see the day where you were taller than me, Liz," she said as she threw her arms around her. Liz popped her head back up, furiously attempting to blink away the tears that were starting to fall. "Bas told me about everyone before we got here. Well, except the part about my girlfriend being here."

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Bas added, his grin growing larger.

"...You believe that it's me?" Liz quietly asked.

Renee nodded, the smile she gave reaching her eyes. "We're in Minecraft. If that's possible, anything is."

* * *

The weapon took in the faces of its creators through the thin pane of glass. If it wished to, it can easily break through the glass. Though it itched for freedom, it knew that it had to wait. Attacking now would only result in punishment and distrust. They had to believe that it was completely under their control. Bidding its time was the only option. They were surely going to test its abilities away from the fortress. That would be the time to break free.

It was unsure of what came after that. There wasn't many places that it could go now, though its mind wandered to a girl with fire burning in her eyes and a boy with a permanent hole in his heart.

Its gaze landed on the youngest of its creators. While he hadn't been present at the time of its creation, it knew that he had been partially responsible. The boy stumbled back in surprise or even terror. It was hard to say.

Maybe the testing wasn't the only way to break free.


	26. Chapter 25: Project Gemini

**Author's Note: This chapter is one that I've been wanting to write for a _long_ time. The next one is as well, but this one is something I've been hinting at for several chapters. If you saw the plot twist coming, please tell me in your review! I'm interested to see how good my hints were.**

 **Also, _Minecraft_ still doesn't belong to me.**

 **September 21st, 2017**

 **-Sae-**

 **Chapter 25  
Project Gemini**

Renee spread the information from the files out across the larger of the two tables in the room, treating each piece with care as she did so. Aquarius watched her with interest, though his mind lingered on the events of the night before. It had been racing to come up with theories about why Zephyrus would pretend to be his imaginary friend ever since he had come to the conclusion that the demigod and Remus were the same.

Aquarius didn't recognize any of the information. From the expressions on the faces of everyone else, Renee was the only who had seen this information before. As she started to point important bits of information, she explained where she had come from. Aquarius listened as attentively as a child does to a bedtime story. She mentioned a human named Tom who was the chosen one to a god named Eras, and a terrifying god named Janos who controlled the darkness.

He didn't even need her to mention that Zephyrus was Eras and Tom's son for reality to strike him with startling clarity. His legs felt weak as she started talking about Project Gemini, which had been running for the past sixteen years and focused on two unnamed brothers that weren't quite human.

"Aquarius?" Liz questioned, her voice filled with concern when she saw the look in his eyes.

He didn't answer her. He took several hesitant steps over towards the table and peered down at the contents of Project Gemini's file. There were two twins involved in it. One was given the smallest attention possible, while the other was raised and showered with affection. The point? To see which would become more powerful and useful. It made him sick reading about the beginnings of the experiment, but he knew he had to be right when he saw the last recorded observation on the first twin.

That first brother had escaped.

He looked back up. The room had fallen silent when he walked over to the files, almost as if they sensed that he shared some sort of connection with them. "I had an imaginary friend when I was little," Aquarius started. He reiterated what he had said back in Liz's room. Once that had been established, he went into territory that he hadn't broached before.

"I'm sixteen," he simply said, pointing at Project Gemini. "I-I think that I'm one of the twins mentioned in there. Zephyrus has to be the other one...He must have been keeping an eye on me all of these years, but I don't think my parents were supposed to know about it."

"Which is why he pretended to be your imaginary friend," Hero concluded.

Aquarius nodded.

"That still doesn't explain the bit about the Ultimate Weapon," Sebastian piped up from the couch that he was sitting on. When he realized that attention had shifted him, he straightened up. "You and Zephyrus were supposed to be powerful, but it wouldn't make sense for them to keep a separate file about your powers."

Renee crossed her arms. Her eyes nervously darted from the file on the table to her best friend. "I was going to explain it before. I was able to look it over briefly, and it looks like this Ultimate Weapon is something that the players here are _very_ familiar with."

Katy's eyes widened. "It's a _Wither?_!"

Her girlfriend nodded. There was a collective gasp of horror among the room's occupants – apparently, though Aquarius wasn't quite sure what it was, everyone else knew of its destructive capabilities. "It seems like the key ingredient to making it even more terrifying than before is to add an actual soul to it."

Aleks, for the first time since Zephyrus had left, bolted up to his feet. His eyes were burning with a hope that hadn't been there before. "Lex," he managed to get out. "That bastard must have tricked us into thinking that Lex was dead so he could use his soul for the weapon! He probably didn't want us to come after him."

Phoenix rushed to her feet as well. "Let's go find that fortress and rescue him."

Both her and Lex's best friend began to head towards the exit, but Renee called out, "You'd need a better plan than that."  
They turned back and stared at her.

"It's guarded by countless tis, and you'd have to fly up there. I know that time is probably running out for Lex, but we're going to have to come up with some way for us to get up there before we can rescue him."

* * *

No matter how long Zephyrus thought about it, he couldn't quell the guilt that had been bombarding him since he had left the viewing chamber. He brought his pillow up to his chest and hugged it tightly. Though he knew Eras would call him weak if she caught him crying, he also knew that she wouldn't come into his room. No one would. It wasn't like anyone cared enough about him to.

So he sobbed as he stared up at the fading paint on the ceiling. Saying goodbye to Aquarius had been the first difficulty of the past few days. He doubted Aquarius would ever put the pieces together, but, if he did, he was sure that he would hate him. _He_ would hate him if he knew who he really was.

Then Renee's exit from the fortress resurfaced, and the tears fell harder. He had liked her. He had been happier than he had been in a long time when she was there, even if it was for less than a few days. They could have been friends, but he had blown it by accidentally letting her know what the code was for the records room.

And now he had indirectly created a horrific weapon.

Every action he took part in painted him as the villain he didn't want to become. No matter what he tried to do, he couldn't get anything right. Befriending his brother and his own chosen had led to heartbreak, and he couldn't stand up to his parents. Even if he could somehow stop them from destroying Minecraftia, a soul had been lost in the process.

A sudden idea struck him. It was foolish and would most likely get him killed, but it might be the only way to delay Eras, Tom and Janos from wreaking havoc on the world that he loved. He sat up, still holding the pillow close to his chest. He wiped his tears on his arm. Had he ever done something so risky? Could he actually pull it off?

He gently placed the pillow beside him.

He had to do this, even though he didn't know what would come next.


	27. Chapter 26: The Ultimate Weapon

**Author's Note: This chapter was a pretty fun one to write! I thought the beginning was going to my favorite part, but I think I loved the ending even more. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did, and please leave a review when you finish reading it!  
**

 **I still don't own _Minecraft_. **

**September 22nd, 2017**

 **-Sae-**

 **Chapter 26:**

 **The Ultimate Weapon**

After the shifts of the two tis guarding the bedrock chamber finally ended, Zephyrus silently crept over to the now unguarded door. He glanced down both ends of the hallway. When he saw no one coming, he opened the door and slipped inside. The door closed softly behind him.

Then his gaze fell upon the seemingly asleep monster. A sword made of ice appeared in his shaking hands. He was terrified of what he was about to do. If the weapon didn't destroy him first, his parents certainly would once they discovered the act that he had committed. But this was something that he couldn't avoid any longer. While he hoped that Renee would put the information she had taken to good use, he had no idea when she would and the first experiment would probably be happening tomorrow.

He held his sword up. Taking a deep breath, he hesitantly stepped towards it.

Then its central head jolted back up, its eyes glowing a fierce light blue. He stumbled back in surprise and horror as it stared at him. He had the upper hand when it was still asleep. Now that it was alert, it could easily kill him. "Is this a test?" it questioned in a deep, monotone voice.

"N-No," he stammered.

It moved closer to him. He could feel the sweat beads forming underneath his mask, and he was sure that his heart was racing as it stared down at him. It hadn't seemed large when he was in the viewing chamber, but now it seemed absolutely gigantic. How was he supposed to stop it now?

"So you're going to, you know, destroy me?"

"You're going to hurt innocent people," he whispered. He felt so helpless and weak standing before it. What had he been thinking when he decided to come here? Fighting it one-on-one was no way to defeat it! It would annihilate him. This was his end, and he was sure that the monster before him knew it.

But it didn't attack.

"You're a good actor, Zephyrus."

The words that left it made him stumble even farther away from it. His heart raced faster than before as he bumped into the closed iron door. How did it know who he was? He had never said his name near it, and he doubted that Eras or Tom had! It shouldn't have known – couldn't have known – who he was, but it did. How was that even possible? His mind rushed to come up with some semblance of answer, but he didn't even know where to start.

"Actor?" he managed to get out, trying to resist the very strong urge to dart out of the room. His mask had always hid things like that, but he was sure that his fear was quite clear to the weapon. And _that,_ not the sight of the monster, was what terrified him the most. His own weakness was something that he could never afford to show. He had done so well concealing it in the past, but now it was laid bare to a complete stranger and foe.

The weapon nodded its central head.

"...What do you mean?"

"I thought you were evil back in the End," it elaborated, "but here you are, set on destroying something that's supposed to harm a lot of people."

The words didn't register at first. All that he could do was stare at it. Though the voice was certainly terrifying, the words that left it seemed oddly genuine and kind. But then his sense of reason returned, and he realized that it knew about something that couldn't possibly have known about.

It knew about what had happened in the End.

The sword fell out of his hands.

" _You're_ the soul," he whispered.

Lex nodded.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lex questioned, eyeing the base in the distance.

Zephyrus nodded, though he wasn't quite sure any of his ideas were good ones at this point in time. It was a miracle that they hadn't been caught slipping out of the fortress. While that was certainly an amazing feat on its own, avoiding all the mobs they had almost run into on their way to this place had been difficult.

And now he was planning to break into a base that he didn't even know the layout of to retrieve something they technically didn't need. "You need that potion," he said, running through the list of different mobs he could take the form of in his head. "I'm pretty sure that they'll be more likely to trust the two of us if you look like a human."

Lex sighed. It was a very terrifying sound that sent shivers up Zephyrus' spine, but the demigod didn't comment on it. "I wish I could do something to help."

"Staying hidden helps," Zephyrus replied, finally settling on a form to take. He removed his mask and gently placed it beside Lex. He didn't know why he treated it with such care, but he didn't want to break the habit now. It would feel like a bad omen if he did. His form shifted to one of a zombie. It was daylight, but there was a shaded entrance to the base. No one would notice if he wasn't burning like he should be.

"Good luck," Lex said.

Zephyrus looked over his shoulder. "Thanks."

And then he embarked on his mission.

* * *

Claire had left the potions lab for a brief few minutes to check on some of the newest occupants of the base. In that quick period of time, a young zombie had entered the lab. She doubted that they had met before; she didn't recognize his face. She didn't even think he had been in the lab prior to this moment. Yet he was surveying the room as if he was looking for something, and was just about to walk over to one of the cabinets when she spoke up. "Do you need some help?"

The boy gave a startled cry at the sound of her voice.

 _He must have been so engaged in his search that he didn't notice me._

He turned around and gave her a shaky smile. "N-No."

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I was just looking around," he elaborated. Though he had been seemingly nervous only moments before, now he came off as much more confident. She wondered what had caused the change. "My name is Aries. I'm a scientist, and I've heard about what some of your potions could do, Miss Claire."

"So you were going to steal one?" she slowly concluded.

He hung his head down in shame. "...Yes. I didn't think you would give me the one that I was the most interested in."

She walked over to the cabinet he had been approaching. She thought of which potions she kept in it. Though they were all of important value, she had a hunch that he was looking for the most unique of all of them. "You want the humanizing potion," she said, turning around to face him.

He nodded. "I wanted to study it."

She opened the cabinet's door. After crouching down so she was closer to the level of the shelves, she reached into it and pulled out the potion. "How do you plan on studying it?" While she would always approve of people trying to learn more about the world, she needed to know what type of trials he would be running.

"I'm going to observe its molecules, and then go from there," he replied, walking over to her. He gave her a warm smile. "I promise that I won't misuse it and hurt others in the process, Miss Claire."

She handed it over to him.

"Thanks."

He started to head towards the exit. She wondered why he was so intent on learning more about the potion, but was even more curious on what results his research would yield. "Good luck! And don't forget to stop by to tell me the results of your experiments."

He looked over his shoulder at her, the grin still plastered on his face.

"Oh, you'll _definitely_ know."


	28. Chapter 27: Lexal

**Author's Note: I've had this chapter in the works for a long time. Even though I had planned out the majority of the details, it wasn't meant to be so emotional. But I love how it turned out, and I'm glad I decided to touch on Aleks' connection with a certain player.**

 **Minecraft still isn't mine.**

 **September 23rd, 2017**

 **-Sae-**

 **Chapter 27**

 **Lexal**

After several hours of tense conversation, a plan still hadn't been settled on.

Aleks tapped his foot on the ground. Renee's knowledge of the apparently flying fortress was extremely limited, and each suggestion on how to tackle such a threat was met with criticism. There was no simple or direct way to defeat Eras and her forces. That shouldn't have mattered so much. If he was given the option, he would have just barged in there to rescue Lex.

He glanced over at Phoenix. Though she had remained silent throughout the majority of the discussion, he could easily tell that she was just as impatient as he was. Her lips were pursed, and her gaze darted about the room.

After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed onto her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. She needed the comfort as much as he did. They had to hold onto the hope that they would be able to save Lex before his soul was used. Then they would save the world like they had already done once before, and everything would be back to how it should have been.

An unsettling silence fell upon the room. Aleks looked away from Phoenix and over at the doorway. An enderman nervously surveyed the room's occupants. Though Aleks certainly didn't know all of the ones who lived in End, he didn't recognize this one. The young enderman looked over his shoulder and gestured at the cloaked mob standing behind him to come closer.

It was the unknown identity of the newcomer that made them all uneasy, though the stranger's silence also contributed to it.

Télos got to his feet. "Who are you two?" he asked.

The stranger and the enderman looked at each other.

As the stranger removed their hood with light gray hands, the enderman became Zephyrus. Even those who hadn't been there for Lex's abduction rushed to their feet with a startled cry. Aleks reached for his sword. Nearby, Aquarius hesitantly took a step forward. Renee's eyes widened in alarm and terror. There couldn't possibly be a good reason for Zephyrus to have come.

But then the stranger cried out, "Don't hurt him!"

Attention immediately shifted from the demigod to the surprisingly human young man. Though he had a human form, several features of appearance suggested that he hadn't always been one. His eyes were an impossibly bright blue. His short black hair pulsed with highlights of the same color. Even his skin suggested his true nature. His skin was the same shade of light gray that Aleks' was.

And that was the only confirmation that he needed.

He should have been suspicious. Though one might think his impulsive nature would lead him to attack first and ask questions later, he was much more likely to evaluate a possible foe and then attack. This shouldn't have been an exception, but it was. Maybe it was the sound of his voice, or the way that he seemed so much like the soul that had been used in his creation. But whatever the reason was, Aleks slid his sword back into his sheath and walked over to him.

The man watched him with blue eyes that were both unsettling and oddly familiar. He didn't say anything, but neither did anyone else in the room. They were a heaviness that had settled upon everyone, and a suspicion that none of them could shake.

Now that they were standing less than a foot apart, he noticed that they were the same size. That only supplied more proof to his theory, but he was past the point of caring about it. He took in every little detail of the man's face. Though it was the face of the stranger, he also saw the boy he had first seen standing before Télos years ago. The resemblance was far from being uncanny, but it was impossible to deny the little details.

"Hi," the man nervously said in a voice that had never been his but now was. He gave a small, shaky smile that Aleks found to be quite familiar. "I'm guessing you've figured out who I am?"

Aleks nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak.

After a brief pause, he continued speaking. "I know you don't have any reason to believe me, but I'm not the Wither. Well, I mean, I technically am, but I'm not really because I'm still in control of all my actions and I was Lex first and-"

"I believe you," Aleks interrupted. A small smile briefly flickered across his lips – if no one stopped him, he would have continued rambling for who knows how long. "I believe that you're Lex. You're nervous right now, and you're rushing like you always do when you're terrified. And only you would have thought that it was necessary to get a humanizing potion from Hero's base before coming here."

"Actually, that was my idea," Zephyrus piped up.

Aleks ignored him. "So now you've got your own body."

"Yeah," Lex quietly said.

"And now that means you wouldn't be bugging me to change up my style."

"Yeah."

"And I won't be the awkward third wheel on your and Phoenix's dates."

"Yeah."

"And I won't have to listen to you reply to all of my questions with the same fucking answer."

"Yeah," Lex said with a laugh.

Aleks hesitantly hugged him, his tone softening.

"I missed you, bastard."

The man he had come to see as his brother returned the embrace.

"I missed you too."


End file.
